Lot 152
Barton, Clara -- ALS Refusing a Memorial to Herself (1821-1912) Pioneering nurse who founded the American Red Cross. She often served on the front lines during the American Civil War and was known as the "Angel of the Battlefield" and the "American Nightingale." Autograph letter signed "Clara Barton," 4 pages on a bifolium (two conjoined sheets), 6½ x 5¼", Glen Echo (Maryland), May 12, 1906. To Mr. Wells, in part: "…It would be perfectly right if I had passed over, leaving only my memory here…but unfortunately, I am still living, and that asks people to give money to erect a memorial for me, while alive….let the request go to others for the headquarters - and fund…but not for me, nor my memorial….what a handle this would give my ill-natured friends….You would not like Mrs. [Mabel Thorp] Boardman [she led the faction that ousted Barton from the presidency of the Red Cross in 1904]…to be wearing that strand into one of her lectures already full of instruction for the people concerning my misdoings. The request for financial aid must not be for a memorial for me but for the institution we wish to establish and that will constitute the memorial…." Fine condition. Signed vertically in the right margin of page 4. After resigning from The Red Cross in 1904, Barton formed the National Aid Society, which later became part of the Red Cross. Barton published her autobiography in 1907, titled The Story of My Childhood. Estimate $1,000 - 1,250
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| Realized $625 |
