RSS FeedClara Barton’s Civil War Office Restoration Garners National Attention
Have you walked by the door at 437 7th Street between the hair salon and the Clara Barton/Lafayette 7th Street parking entrance and noticed some subtle changes on the outside?
Behind the door and tucked away on the third floor of the building is the former office of Clara Barton, the nurse who secured a place in Civil War history by opening the Office of Correspondence With Friends of the Missing Men of the United States Army to reunite missing soldiers with their families. Closed in 1868, the office remained untouched from 1900 until 1997 when Richard Lyons, a GSA carpenter, stumbled on the room while evaluating the building for demolition. The full blown demolition was halted once the historic value of what was discovered was realized. Restoration is now ongoing and reuniting missing soldiers continues to this day.
The office’s restoration recently received syndicated press coverage in Washington, Indianapolis and Canton. The DC Cultural Tourism coalition has a good piece on Clara Barton [PDF – 7 MB – see #3] as does the Smithsonian’s Civil War Studies organization.
Once restored, how do you think the office would best be used?
Photo (upper right):
7th Street looking South-Washington Historical Society
Photo (lower left):
Richard Lyons, GSA-Washington Post/Mark Gong
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.