Clara Barton--Founder of the American Red Cross

• Occupation: Nurse
• Born: December 25, 1821 in North Oxford, Massachusetts
• Died: April 12, 1912 in Glen Echo, Maryland
• Best known for: Founder of the American Red Cross

Clara was born Clarissa Harlowe Barton on Christmas Day in 1821 in Oxford, Massachusetts. 

She was the youngest of 5 children and grew up on a farm where she was no stranger to hard work. Her mother taught her to follow her dreams and that women could be anything they wanted.

When Clara was eleven years old, her brother David fell off the roof of a barn. He became very sick. Clara spent the next two years taking care of David. The doctors didn't hold out much hope for David, but, with Clara's help, he eventually got better. It was during this time that Clara discovered that she enjoyed taking care of others. 

Clara worked as a teacher and started a free public school that had over 600 students in attendance. She was also an activist for women's rights, even getting Abraham Lincoln on her side. 



The Civil War Begins 

Near the start of the Civil War a number of wounded soldiers arrived in Washington D.C. Clara and her sister Sally did what they could to help the men. Clara and her sister organized ways to get needed supplies to care for the wounds of the soldiers

Throughout the Civil War, Clara traveled from battle to battle, doing what she could to nurse the soldiers back to health often going right up to the frontlines. She became know as the "Angel of the Battlefield" by the soldiers. 

Medicine During the Civil War 
During the Civil War Doctors did not use sterilization techniques like we do today. Clara helped to change these practices.

The American Red Cross 

While traveling overseas Clara learned of an organization called the International Red Cross. This group helped wounded soldiers during war. They hung a flag with a red cross and a white background on the outside of their hospital tents in order to identify themselves. After working for the Red Cross in France, Clara wanted to bring the organization to America. 

Clara founded the American Red Cross on May 21, 1881. 

Fun Facts about Clara Barton

• Clara was giving a soldier a cup of water when he suddenly died. She then noticed a hole in her sleeve from a bullet that narrowly missed her and killed the soldier.
• After the Civil War, Clara worked to track down missing soldiers. The army had kept little record of lost soldiers.
• After leaving the Red Cross in her 80s, Clara traveled the country teaching people first-aid skills.
• There are numerous elementary schools and high schools throughout the country that are named after Clara Barton.
• She never married nor had children. She said she considered the soldiers to be her family.

Wednesday's Woman: Amelia Earhart

Amelia Earhart

1897-1937

What young girl hasn't admired Amelia Earhart? She has always been a heroine of mine. During a time when women didn't even conceive of flying, she became the first woman pilot. She studied successful women, even making a scrapbook of the accomplishments of others.  Amelia is definitely one woman to add to your studies of successful women. 

July 24, 1897 - Born on July 24, 1897, Earhart, as a child, spent long hours playing with Pidge, climbing trees, hunting rats with a .22 rifle and belly-slamming her sled downhill. Amelia Mary Earhart saw her first plane at a state fair at the age of 10, and she was not impressed.

December 28, 1920 - Pilot Frank Hawks gave her a ride that would forever change her life. "By the time I had got two or three hundred feet off the ground," she said, "I knew I had to fly."

January 3, 1921 - Began flying lessons with Neta Snook

July 1921 - Bought first plane, Kinner Airster (Canary)

October 22, 1922 - Broke women's altitude record when she rose to 14,000 feet

June 17-18, 1928 - First woman to fly across the Atlantic; 20hrs 40min (Fokker F7, Friendship)

Summer 1928 - Bought an Avro Avian, a small English plane famous because Lady Mary Heath, Britain's foremost woman pilot had flown it solo from Capetown, South Africa to London

Fall 1928 - Published book 20 Hours 40 Minutes, toured and lectured; became aviation editor of Cosmopolitan magazine

August 1929 - Placed third in the First Women's Air Derby, aka the Powder Puff Derby; upgraded from her Avian to a Lockheed Vega

Fall 1929 - Elected as an official for National Aeronautic Association and encouraged the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) to establish separate world altitude, speed and endurance records for women

June 25, 1930 - Set women's speed record for 100 kilometers with no load, and with a load of 500 kilograms

July 5, 1930 - Set speed record for of 181.18mph over a 3K course

September 1930 - Helped to organize and became vice president of public relations for new airline, New York, Philadelphia and Washington Airways

April 8, 1931 - Set woman's autogiro altitude record with 18,415 feet (in a Pitcairn autogiro)

May 20-21, 1932 - First woman to fly solo across the Atlantic; 14 hrs 56 min (it was also the 5th anniversary of Lindberg's Atlantic flight; awarded National Geographic Society's gold medal from President Herbert Hoover; Congress awarded her the Distinguished Flying Cross; wrote For The Fun of It about her journeyAugust 24-25, 1932 - First woman to fly solo nonstop coast to coast; set women's nonstop transcontinental speed record, flying 2,447.8 miles in 19hrs 5min

Fall 1932 - Elected president of the Ninety Nines, a new women's aviation club which she helped to form

July 7-8, 1933 - Broke her previous transcontinental speed record by making the same flight in 17hrs 7min

January 11, 1935 - First person to solo the 2,408-mile distance across the Pacific between Honolulu and Oakland, California; also first flight where a civilian aircraft carried a two-way radio

April l9 - 20, 1935 - First person to fly solo from Los Angeles to Mexico City; 13hrs 23min

May 8, 1935 - First person to fly solo nonstop from Mexico City to Newark; 14hrs 19min

June 1, 1937 - Began flight around the world June 1937; first person to fly from the Red Sea to India.

July 2, 1937 - Amelia Earhart left with her crew member from New Guinea and disappeared near Howland Island.

Busy Week Ahead

This week is going to be crazy!! Here's just a small sampling of what you can expect to see at our Tie One On Cookie Exchange! 

 

 
 
 

 

Kate Sheppard

1847-1934

Leader of New Zealand's Women's Suffrage Movement

Kate was born in Liverpool, England. She moved to Christchurch, New Zealand with her family when she was 21. There were several things Kate did not like about her new home. Women had to wear tight corsets, children were allowed to buy alcohol, women weren't allowed to have jobs, women weren't allowed to vote.

Something Had To Be Done!!!

Kate worked tirelessly, bicycling around and handing out pamphlets, speaking to groups and having petitions signed. She didn't stop until she she had a petition signed by more than 30,000 people in 1893. Because of her work New Zealand became the first country in the world to grant women the right to vote. Kate had paved a road of hope and inspiration to suffragettes across the globe.

Wednesday Woman--Jane Goodall

Jane Goodall

Age 4 Jane hides in the family hen house to discover how eggs are laid.

Age 8 Jane reads Dr. Doolittle books and watches Tarzan and discovers her love of animals

Age 10 Jane's mother tells her to work hard and never give up on her dream of traveling to Africa to watch and write about animals.

Age 18 Jane graduates high school but can't afford college. She begins working as a waitress to save money to travel to a friend's farm in Kenya.

Age 26 Jane meets some famous scientists in Kenya and studies chimpanzees. She learns that chimpanzees use tools, eat meat, can understand human emotions, and can learn to communicate using sign language.

Jane still travels the world speaking about the threats to chimpanzees and encourages everyone to take care of all living things.

Jane followed her dreams and made great strides in the understanding of animals and communication. 

Communication is so important in our lives. Jane has shown us how even animals communicate and show concern for one another. 

Jane set an example of following our dreams. Her story is a good reminder that we can accomplish anything we set our mind toward.

Just 2 crazy women making your life pretty.......pretty amazing

We have been hard at work for the last couple of months getting things ready to provide you with a shopping experience that will make you want to come back for more. We aren't just creating a shopping experience we are creating a place where women can be themselves, where they can get away from the cares of the day for a moment and laugh, feel pretty, make friends, and even learn something new. We set a goal of having this space ready by November 1st and we are so close, but there is still so much to do. There are over 200 bars of soap that will  be ready for gifts and your home, we are experimenting with some roll on essential oils and have a few ready for you to try out. There are lotion bars ready to soften your skin and exfoliating sacks ready for scrubbing. We have created wreaths, a gift basket for a giveaway, poured candles and painted walls. We even hung a chandelier.

So, just who are we? Alyeen is mom to 6 and is raising a niece and nephew, and Mamaw to 8. Cindy has 3 children and is Momo to 4 grandchildren.  Alyeen has studied natural health for over 25 years, she has certifications in breastfeeding education, midwifery, reflexology, herbal medicine and is currently working on her Doctorate in Naturopathy while apprenticing with an Acupuncturist and Chiropractor.  Cindy works as a Kitchen and Bath designer, is an amazing decorator, and has studied energy healing, and iridology .  We both have a passion for natural living and creativity. You will never find 2 items alike in our stock, even our soaps are not uniform and that is how we like it! We love looking for unique containers for our candles and keeping things fresh and different on our shelves.

How did 2 crazy women like us become such instant friends. Well you see 1000s of years ago.....  No seriously somewhere in
long forgotten lands and times we were friends or sisters or something. More recently we worked together at a local Herb Shop that closed up, we both needed something to create an income and so Curious Roots was reborn. We have since discovered that we have the same eclectic tastes and that our Daddies have the same birthday, and apparently the same personalities! We love our children more than life itself and we love helping people!

We are constantly working on our space and changing things around. If you drop by on any given day you will want to come back in a week, because guaranteed we will have changed something, maybe even our hair. You will find our creations to be as unique as we are, (who wants something that 50 other people bought from the same store?).  No two batches of soap are the same, the containers for our candles are always unique, and the wreaths are definitely one of a kind! Stop by some time and say hi, we have soaps ready take home and the reflexology chair is waiting for a warm body. We can have a cup of tea ready for you in a jiffy.

Hope to see you soon!

Much Love,

Cindy & Alyeen

Wednesday Woman: Helen Keller

Helen Keller

1890-1968

Why not start with a favorite? Helen Keller is one of my all time favorite women. She lost her hearing and sight at the age of 19 months. She was a very frustrated child, because of her lack of ability to communicate she often had tantrums to get her point across. Eventually her parents hire an expert teacher named Anne Sullivan. Anne was able to teach Helen to communicate with others by touching their lips, using Braille and signing into others hands. Helen Keller sparked my personal interest in American Sign Language and Deaf Culture when I was young. 

Helen's accomplishments include

--communicating in multiple languages including French, German, Latin and Greek

--first deaf-blind person to earn a bachelor of arts degree

--campaigned for women's suffrage, labor rights, socialism, antimilitarism, and other causes

--she used her experiences to bring awareness and understanding of those with disabilities

Helen's accomplishments are many, however without the care and understanding of her teach and friend, Anne Sullivan she would have had a difficult time bring her beliefs and advocacy to fruition. 

Today we honor both Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan, two strong, intelligent women with much to teach us about the importance of communication and education.

What difficulties do you face when trying to communicate with others? How do you overcome these challenges?