Sherborn Library hosts “Clara Barton”

The following was provided by the Sherborn Library:

The Sherborn Community Center, the Sherborn Library and the Sherborn Historical society host Meet Clara Barton:  Angel of the Battlefield tonight at 7:00 p.m. at the Sherborn Community Center.

Actress Jessa Piaia performs this first-person interpretation of Clara Barton’s inspiring life.   The performance will highlight Barton’s tireless work during the Civil War, where she brought supplies, food, and assisted wounded soldiers on the battleground.  After the war, she helped initiate official recordkeeping for missing and dead soldiers and was instrumental in establishing the first national cemetery in Andersonville, Georgia.  Later, Barton fought to organize humanitarian aid, which led to the founding of the American Red Cross.   Along with achieving international acclaim, Barton maintained a sense of pride in her familial roots and childhood experiences in Worcester County, Massachusetts.   Clara Barton briefly served as superintendent of the Sherborn Women’s Reformatory, now MCI Framingham.  

Jessa Piaia studied performance at London’s Oval House Theatre.  She works in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University.  Research for Meet Clara Barton was conducted at The Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe Institute, and at The Clara Barton Birthplace Museum in North Oxford, Massachusetts.   

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Sherborn Arts Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. Facilities for this event have been provided in part by the Sherborn Community Center Foundation and its membership donors.