Clara Barton Tent #29 was organized on July 9, 1971, with the help of Mrs. Clara Potter and Ellenor Larson, National Chaplain, of the Colorado Department. It was chartered August 2, 1971 by the Nebraska Department President, Neva Lofton, who was assisted by Ellenor Larson and Clara Potter for the installation.
Tent members chose as their name, Clara Barton (Clarissa Harlowe Barton). Clara was born on Christmas Day 1821 at Oxford, Massachusetts, and died at Glen Echo, Maryland, April 12, 1912.
She was an American philanthropist, and an organizer of the American Red Cross. She entered the Union military hospital service at the beginning of the Civil War and was placed in charge of the hospitals at the front of the Army of the James in 1864. She also made a register of the prisoners in Andersonville Prison and let families know of their relatives there.
She assisted the Grand Duchess of Baden in the organization of military hospitals at the beginning of the Prussian War. She superintended the supply of work to the poor of Strasbourg in 1871 and the distribution of supplies to the destitute in Paris in 1872.
Clara organized the American Red Cross Society in 1881, and was its president from 1882 to 1904. In 1883, she was appointed superintendent of the reformatory for women at Sherborn, Massachusetts. She was also president of the American National Red Cross Society. In 1898, she wrote a History of the Red Cross in Peace and War.
Clara superintended relief work during the overflow of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers in 1884; following a cyclone on the South Atlantic coast; during the Spanish-American War in 1898, also during the Boer War 1899-1902. In 1896, Clara went from the United States to Constantinople to administer the funds of the National Armenian Relief Committee.
The tent of 13 charter members "bravely hitched up its diaper when slightly over a year old" and hosted the Department Convention in 1973. Since 1974, they have had continuous representation at all Department and National Conventions, serving in offices, and on committees.
Information taken from "A Short History of the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War 1861-1865 and The Nebraska Department of the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War 1861-1865" issued by The Nebraska Department Bicentennial Committee.
