The Clara Barton National Historic Site (Glen Echo, Maryland), where the American Red Cross and “disaster response” was born, will begin its $14 million rehabilitation by the National Park Service (NPS) in late 2026. As described by National Parks Traveler, this project will "resolve ongoing issues of life safety, accessibility, and indoor environmental controls and building systems," all of which are much needed for the future of the 130-year-old historic site.

A coalition of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, National Parks Conservation Association, National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites, and many others ensured that the Barton Site will be preserved and re-opened to the public to tell the remarkable life story of Clara Barton and the Red Cross. The coalition also established an official Friends group—The Clara Barton Fund—with NPS, a major achievement that will protect, interpret, and raise funds for the Barton NHS over the long term.

The Clara Barton Fund was incorporated in Maryland as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. It operates in partnership with the George Washington Memorial Parkway, the NPS unit that administers the Barton Site.

The organization’s co-founders, Elizabeth Planet and Elizabeth Witherspoon, emphasize that the Clara Barton Fund’s origins are firmly rooted in collaboration: “While founding this new organization, we have had the pleasure of partnering and collaborating with an amazing community of people who are passionate champions of Clara Barton's life and legacy.”

The Clara Barton Fund aspires to tell Barton’s story fully, illuminating parts of her life’s work that have often been overlooked. Planet and Witherspoon “look forward to building on the legacy of so many who have come before us to tell the story of Clara Barton’s remarkable accomplishments as an entrepreneur, educator, lobbyist, fundraiser, and international humanitarian.”

Sarah Pawlicki is an American Conservation Experience-Mellon Humanities Postdoctoral Fellow working to highlight women's histories across the United States.