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Before Clara Barton’s Vision

The mission of the American Red Cross is to provide humanitarian relief to those in need of assistance and was formally adopted at the Treaty of Geneva in 1864.  Prior to the formation of the Red Cross, Clara Barton provided relief to wounded soldiers as a field nurse and was among many women assisting the U.S. military, during and well before the Civil War.

A document written by Frederick Frye to William Simmons in 1797 shows that women were indeed on the payroll of the U.S. government, albeit an informal employment.  Frye noted that he brought on a soldiers wife to serve as a nurse at Governor’s Island in the newly commissioned hospital and that she was allotted pay for her services.  In 1795 Simmons approved the pay of Sarah Brooks for her service as a nurse in Carlisle, PA.  As far back as 1784 War Department documents contain evidence of female nurses staffing hospitals.

All this evidence begs the question: Why did it take so long for women to receive formally appointed roles in the military?  Is it a simple answer of gender inequality, or were there more minute reasons that barred women from official service in military hospitals?