Clara Barton Museum

CLOSED
2025-12-25 - 2026-01-01 | Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum, 437 7th Street NW, Washington, 20004, United States
The Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum will be closed Thursday, December 25 – Thursday, January 1. We will reopen on Friday, January 2, 2026.

CLOSED
2025-11-27 - 2025-11-29 | Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum, 437 7th Street NW, Washington, 20004, United States
The Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum will be closed Thursday, November 27 – Saturday, November 29. We will reopen the following week on Thursday, December 3, 2025.

“All the Elements of Sublimity and Terror”: Veterans and the Psychological Impact of War
2025-11-15 14:00 - 15:30 (America/New_York) | Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum, 437 7th Street NW, Washington, 20004, United States
“All the Elements of Sublimity and Terror”: Veterans and the Psychological Impact of War – Stephen A. Goldman, M.D., LFACLP, DLFAPA
War has existed almost since the dawn of civilization, with its horrors the subject of poems, novels, histories, and memoirs for centuries, and movies since cinema began. At the same time, other emotions and experiences associated with battle have been comparatively underemphasized, if addressed at all. But if Americans who have never gone to war are to understand its full spectrum, the exhilaration felt by those who have been under fire, along with combat’s terror, destructiveness, and revolting facets, must be examined.
In this talk, Dr. Stephen A. Goldman will present a unified, unsparing look at the full panoply of war, including its terrible grandeur, surprising elements of beauty, and life-altering, multifaceted effect on those who survive.
About the Speaker
Stephen A. Goldman, M.D. is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, war historian, and the only physician to serve on the Abraham Lincoln Institute Board of Directors. His psychiatric academic career and clinical experience with combat veterans, decades-long study of American veterans spanning the Civil War to today, and their ramifications are exemplified in his groundbreaking book, One More War to Fight: Union Veterans’ Battle for Equality through Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and the Lost Cause.

How Civil War Medicine Killed President James Garfield
2025-11-08 14:00 - 15:00 | Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum, 437 7th Street NW, Washington, 20004, United States
When an assassin’s bullet struck James Garfield in July 1881, the battle to save the president’s life began. In the weeks that followed, doctors argued over how to treat the stricken executive. In the end, Dr. D. Willard Bliss, a former Civil War surgeon, took control of Garfield’s recovery and controversy has surrounded his role ever since. Historian Jake Wynn will discuss the history of Garfield’s recovery and how antiquated techniques learned by Dr. Bliss during his Civil War experience played a role in James Garfield’s death in September 1881.

Jake Wynn is the Senior Marketing and Communications Manager at Visit Frederick and the former National Museum of Civil War Medicine Director of Interpretation. He is a 2015 graduate of Hood College, with degrees in history and communications arts. He has formerly worked with Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, and the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area.

The presentation is included with admission to the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum and FREE for NMCWM members.

CLOSED
2025-11-08 08:00 - 17:00
The Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum will be closed Thursday, December 25. We will reopen the following day on Friday, December 26, 2025.

Spiritualism at Surratt: A Descent into the Macabre Archives
2025-10-18 14:00 - 15:00 | Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum, 437 7th Street NW, Washington, 20004, United States
The Civil War made death far more common and only deepened people’s longing for a connection with the spirit world. The archives and collections at the Surratt House Museum Research Center are full of references to these macabre practices and chilling recorded ghost stories. This talk will focus on the efforts collections staff have made to catalog, rehouse, and make finding aids for the spiritualism collection while sharing the stories of these spine chilling artifacts. At the talk you will be able to try out one of our educational activities inspired by the collection, but to do all of the spooky hands on activities, tour the house at night, and see the artifacts discussed in person consider attending the longer program at the Surratt House Museum on October 4th and 25th: https://www.pgparks.com/event_list/spiritualism-at-surratt
About the Speaker
Lex (Alexa) Rose (She/They)
is the Archivist and Collections Assistant at the Surratt House Museum. Previously, she has given ghost and spiritualism tours, which satisfies her spooky heart as a practicing witch. She has worn many hats in museums including: curator, exhibits professional, collections, and research assistant at a variety of museums in the DC area currently and up and down both coasts in the past. She is most interested in researching spooky topics, women, LGBTQ+, digital humanities, disability history, and having an MA in Ancient Greek and Roman Studies, tries to relate American History to Rome (because her “Roman Empire” is actually the Roman empire)! She invites you to see her work, ask questions, and connect on LinkedIn.

Walking Tour: Clara Barton’s Washington
2025-09-27 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-09-20 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-09-13 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-08-30 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-08-16 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-08-09 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-08-02 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-07-26 13:00 - 14:00 and 7 more dates | Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum, 437 7th Street NW, Washington, 20004, United States
Join us as we step back into Civil War Washington, DC through the eyes of Clara Barton.
On Saturdays at 1PM, Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum docents will guide guests through the neighborhood that Clara Barton lived in during the Civil War. Beginning at 437 7th Street NW, the boarding house where Barton resided, this tour will explore the rapid changes to Washington, DC that occurred throughout the 1860s as a result of the Civil War while also providing a look into what the daily lives of Washington locals looked like then. Walking tours will last approximately one hour.
Tours will depart at 1PM from 437 7th St NW, Washington, DC. Walking tours cost $15 and include free admission to the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum. Tickets are free for Museum Members but must still be reserved. Reservations are accepted on a first come first serve basis. Please see the link below to get your tickets today!
Get Tickets

Healing and Teaching: Susie King Taylor's Life in Service
2025-09-20 14:00 - 15:00 | Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum, 437 7th Street NW, Washington, 20004, United States
Healing and Teaching: Susie King Taylor’s Life in Service – Dr. Dawn Chitty
Join us Saturday, September 20 at 2PM as Dr. Dawn Chitty, Director of Education at the African American Civil War Museum, explores the extraordinary life of Susie King Taylor. Taylor, a formerly enslaved woman, served as a nurse, teacher, and memoirist during the Civil War. As one of the few women to document her wartime experiences, Taylor offers a rare firsthand account of life alongside the United States Colored Troops. This presentation at the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Museum highlights her courage, intellect, and enduring contributions to American history.

Canceled - Walking Tour: Clara Barton’s Washington
2025-09-06 13:00 - 14:00 | Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum, 437 7th Street NW, Washington, 20004, United States

CLOSED
2025-08-23 | Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum, 437 7th Street NW, Washington, 20004, United States
We will be closed Saturday, August 23, 2025 for maintenance. We will reopen Thursday, August 28, 2025 at 11AM.

Last Seen: Searching for Missing Loved Ones after the Civil War
2025-08-16 14:00 - 15:30 | Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum, 437 7th Street NW, Washington, 20004, United States
Last Seen: Searching for Missing Loved Ones after the Civil War – Professor Judith Giesberg
In this talk, professor Judith Giesberg from Villanova University will discuss her new book, Last Seen: The Enduring Search by Formerly Enslaved People for their Lost Families, that follows ten freed people searching for the loved ones who they were sold away from in the domestic slave trade. There was no missing persons department dedicated to this work, such as the one Clara Barton spearheaded, no congressional funding allocations, or help from powerful politicians. So, members of Freedom Generation relied on Black institutions to help them find their families. How did freed people search for mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, and kin that had been scattered to the four corners of the country by slave traders? Where did they begin? And, did they find each other? The separation of enslaved people’s families is an often unacknowledged and misunderstood aspect of U.S. history, and the legacy of these separations has largely been ignored. Giesberg’s talk, and the book on which it is based, tells this story.

Clara Barton's Civil War and the Creation of the Missing Soldiers Office
2025-07-26 14:00 - 15:00 | Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum, 437 7th Street NW, Washington, 20004, United States
Please join us Saturday, July 26 in celebrating the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office’s 10th birthday!
Author, historian, and first-person Clara Barton interpreter Carolyn Ivanoff will be presenting a special lecture detailing Clara Barton’s work throughout the Civil War and her development of the Missing Soldiers Office.
Miss Clara Barton was known as the Angel of the Battlefield for her service as a nurse and relief worker during the Civil War. In March of 1865, with written permission from President Lincoln, Barton established the Missing Soldiers Office in her boarding house on 7th Street in Washington, D.C. As the Civil War was coming to a close, over 40 percent of the dead remained unidentified. Tens of thousands of grieving families did not know the fate of their loved ones. From the time she first went onto the battlefield Barton was acutely aware, and deeply concerned, for the fate of the men whom she cared for and their families. With the opening of the Missing Soldiers’ Office, Barton dedicated herself to the search for the missing and the identification of the dead. By time the office closed in 1868, Barton had worked herself into exhaustion. More than 22,000 unknown dead had been identified, 13,000 at Andersonville alone.

10 Years of the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum
2025-07-26 | Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum, 437 7th Street NW, Washington, 20004, United States
Join us on Saturday, July 26 as we celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum opening!
We will be celebrating our 10th birthday with free admission, guided tours from Clara Barton’s perspective, and a very special lecture from Clara Barton interpreter and historian Carolyn Ivanoff on the Missing Soldiers Office.
11AM – Doors open
12PM – Tour the Missing Soldiers Office with Clara Barton Reservations
1PM – Clara Barton’s Washington Walking Tour Get Tickets
2PM – Clara Barton’s Civil War and the Creation of the Missing Soldiers Office Details
3PM – Tour the Missing Soldiers Office with Clara Barton Reservations
5PM – Doors close

CLOSED
2025-07-04 | Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum, 437 7th Street NW, Washington, 20004, United States
The Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office will be CLOSED on July 4, 2025 in celebration of Independence Day. We will reopen the following day, July 5.

Walking Tour: Clara Barton's Washington
2025-05-31 13:00 - 14:00 | Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum, 437 7th Street NW, Washington, 20004, United States

Faces of Civil War Nurses: A Photo Exhibit
2025-05-24 - 2025-09-01 | Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum, 437 7th Street NW, Washington, 20004, United States
In partnership with Military Images magazine, the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum is the inaugural host for a new photo exhibit, “Faces of Civil War Nurses.” The exhibit features portraits and personal stories of women who served as nurses during the Civil War.
The exhibit debuted at the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum on May 24, 2025 and will run through September 1, 2025.

Thank you to our sponsors!
