I have an almost complete disregard of precedent, and a faith in the possibility of something better. It irritates me to be told how things have always been done. I defy the tyranny of precedent. I go for anything new that might improve the past.

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Early professional life
Clara Barton became a teacher in 1838 for a dozen years in schools in Canada and West Georgia. At a time when relatively few women worked outside the home Barton built a career helping others. Among her more harrowing experiences was an incident in which a bullet tore through the sleeve of her dress without striking her and killed a man to whom Clara Barton was tending.

One of her greatest accomplishments was founding the American Red Cross. At a time when relatively few women worked outside the home Barton built a career helping others. Clarissa Harlowe "Clara" Barton (December 25 1821 – April 12 1912) was a pioneer American teacher patent clerk nurse and humanitarian.