at age seventeen. She began teachingin Worcester County of Massachusetts and taught in various others schools for 6years. Clara then realized she needed a change and decided to open up her ownschool. After running her own school for a few years Clara recognized that sheneeded more change and at age 29, Clara enrolled in an advanced school forfemale teachers in Clinton, New York. This addition to her education led her toa teaching position in New Jersey which opened the opportunity for her to openseveral free schools there in New Jersey. Her schools were very successful andstudents flocked to be a part of them. After much success in her teachingcareer, Clara finally ran into rejection when the school board refused her theposition of heading the school she had founded and instead gave the job to aless qualified man. This greatly upset Clara and she again decided she needed achange, however this time the change was more dramatic.After recovering from the emotional effects of the events that occurred inNew Jersey, Clara took a job in Washington D.C. as a copy clerk in the U.S.Patent Office. This job did not last long since at age 40, when the AmericanCivil War broke out she felt the need to resign and become a volunteer for theUnion. As a volunteer, Clara distributed supplies such as medicine, bandages,and food to the soldiers, assisted surgeons in amputations and stitching, andnursed wounded soldiers until they could be taken to a safe place. Clara waseven granted permission to deliver the supplies she assembled directly to thefront of the battle ground. After delivering these services for two years, Clarasbenevolence became legendary and she was informally given the title of Angelof the Battlefield.After the war ended, Clara lectured about her war experiences,coordinated a national effort to locate soldiers who were missing in action, andwas active in the suffrage movement. Locating soldiers basically became her lifefor the n...
