Class dates: Wednesday, June 17 and 24 (2 weeks)

Class time: 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm

Location: Online (via Zoom)

If you ask, why a course on Clara Barton, then the only answer I can think of is because she represents the greatest heroine America ever produced. Although this course covers briefly Clara’s early and later life, it mainly chronicles one week in the life of Clara at the Battle of Antietam, a battle which redefines America with the ideal “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” At Antietam, Clara’s presence was everywhere: cooking her famous hardtack meal; washing the faces and hands of wounded soldiers; combing their hair; giving bread, wine, and water to the wounded; dressing the wounds of soldiers; assisting a surgeon on the amputation of an arm or leg; holding the hand of a dying soldier and closing the eyes of the dead. Clara’s story at Antietam makes her one of the most extraordinary women who ever lived.

Instructor: Paul Macek has a bachelor’s degree in both history and geography and a master’s degree in both history and English. He has taught U.S. History and American Literature for over twenty-five years. He has also worked as a proofreader, copyeditor, indexer, translator, writer, and publisher for over thirty years. Paul Macek is the author of eight books: one on education, two on literature (one of which was a translation), and five on American history.