Stories of America — Season 1, Episode 25: Clara Barton
Kids • 15 min • 1 season, 32 episodes
Episode synopsis
This episode introduces children to Clara Barton, the compassionate nurse who became known as the “Angel of the Battlefield” during the Civil War. Through simple narration and reenactments, the program shows how Barton cared for wounded soldiers, delivered supplies to the front lines, and later founded the American Red Cross. The episode highlights her courage, determination, and lifelong commitment to helping others, offering young viewers an inspiring look at one of America’s most important humanitarian figures.
About Stories of America
The interconnectedness of all things is a fundamental part of reading motivation projects. Although GPN's Reading Rainbow claims to have invented that idea, Stories of America with host Ann McGregor got there first. It was 1976, America's bicentennial year, and WVIZ-TV of Cleveland wanted something more out of a series aimed at delivering American history, They decided to combine history with reading. The result was Stories of America. Hosting was the familiar face of Ann McGregor, who had enlivened Picture Book Park and Tilson's Bookshop some two years earlier. Stories of America resembled more of a story reading than a history lesson, but it also introduced other elements that became standard Reading Rainbow procedure. There were occasional film sequences, dramatizations, and even an animation. All told, the 32-part Stories of America series ran some 14 years on WVIZ-TV. The station brought the shows back in 1998, and it would be the only WVIZ instructional telev