By AUDREY FISCHER Clara Barton's plan, as she left her teaching
career in 1854 and headed to Washington, D.C., was to spend her
days in therapeutic reading in the "dim, quiet alcoves" of the
Library of Congress. Instead, she dedicated her life to the
relief of suffering both at home and abroad. She also assumed
the monumental task of enlisting the help of countless
volunteers to do likewise through the American Red Cross, which
she established in 1881. "Although Clara may not have personally
enjoyed much time in the Library's 'quiet alcoves,' her papers
have resided here since the 1940s, when they were donated by
family members," said Janice Ruth, the Manuscript Division's
specialist in American women's history. According to Ruth,
Barton was perhaps the most decorated American woman, and the
Library possesses many of her medals. "Even before the receipt
of the Barton papers, the Library of Congress had already begun
collecting materials documenting the American Red Cross," said
Ruth. "Located in the Library o