Clara Barton Museum

CLOSED
2026-07-02 - 2026-07-04 | Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum, 437 7th Street NW, Washington, 20004, United States
Due to maintenance related to air conditioning repairs with the recent heat wave, the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum will be closed July 2–4. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding as we work to ensure a comfortable experience for our visitors. We look forward to welcoming you back soon!

Walking Tour: Clara Barton’s Washington, D.C.
2026-07-11 13:00 - 14:00, 2026-07-25 13:00 - 14:00, 2026-08-08 13:00 - 14:00, 2026-09-12 13:00 - 14:00, 2026-09-26 13:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York) | Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum, 437 7th Street NW, Washington, 20004, United States
Join us as we step back into Civil War Washington, D.C. through the eyes of Clara Barton.
On Saturdays at 1 p.m., 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 1 p.m. 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.
GENERAL PUBLIC TICKETS
MEMBER TICKETS

Fashion on the Front Lines: Dressing America in the Civil War
2026-07-11 14:00 - 15:00 | Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum, 437 7th Street NW, Washington, 20004, United States
How do clothing and conflict intertwine? What can a hoop skirt, a soldier’s shirt, or a nurse’s apron reveal about a country at war with itself?
Join Emma Rowland at the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum on July 11, 2026 at 2PM for an immersive journey into the clothing and material culture of the American Civil War. This richly illustrated lecture explores how Americans dressed, from the battlefield to the home front, and what those garments reveal about identity, survival, patriotism, and profound societal change. Guests will explore: Women’s wartime dress, from everyday work clothing to the iconic silhouette of the 1860s. How shortages, blockades, and industrial shifts altered what people could buy, sew, and repair. The clothing of soldiers and nurses, including Clara Barton’s own wartime attire. The hidden labor of garment work, from enslaved seamstresses to Northern factory workers. What surviving garments and primary sources tell us about race, class, gender, and resilience during the war. Set in Clara Barton’s preserved boardinghouse, where she lived while launching her mission to find missing Union soldiers, this program connects the threads of material culture with the human stories that shaped the conflict. Visitors will leave with a deeper understanding of clothing as both artifact and witness to one of the most turbulent periods in American history. This program is ideal for fashion-history enthusiasts, Civil War scholars, museum professionals, and anyone interested in the lived experiences behind 19th-century clothing.
Emma Rowland is a museum educator and historical costumer whose work highlights the social and cultural history of American dress. She collaborates with the Lee-Fendall House Museum and works for Alexandria Colonial Tours, where she researches, hand-sews, and interprets historical clothing for public programs. Emma’s work blends archival research, material culture study, and storytelling to make fashion history accessible and engaging for modern audiences.
This presentation is included with admission to the museum and FREE for members.

CLOSED
2026-07-16 | Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum, 437 7th Street NW, Washington, 20004, United States
Due to maintenance related to air conditioning repairs, the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum will be closed July 16. We plan to reopen the following day, July 17. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding as we work to ensure a comfortable experience for our visitors. We look forward to welcoming you back soon!

Muster Grounds and Malarial Breeding Grounds: The National Mall During the US Civil War
2026-08-08 14:00 - 15:00 | Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum, 437 7th Street NW, Washington, 20004, United States
Join Caroline Liaupsin in an exploration of the National Mall in the years leading up to, during, and after the US Civil War. Discover the unique landscape design, territorial battles between government agencies, the structures that inhabited the mall, why there were so many cattle there, and much more.
Caroline Liaupsin studied history at the George Washington University with a focus on midcentury DC history and preservation. Her interest in the National Mall developed from a long-standing fascination with landscape architecture, historical memory, and preservation. Her senior thesis: “Protecting a ‘Bit of Country in the City’: The Georgetown Citizens Association and the Preservationist Politics of Exclusivity, 1950-1970.” has been published in the History Matters Journal. Caroline’s work can also be found on WOWD-LP Takoma Radio, where she hosts DIY Not, a radio show about the DC underground music scene.

Battle-Tempered: The Physical and Psychological Consequences of War
2026-08-29 08:30 - 17:00 | Monocacy National Battlefield Visitor’s Center, 5201 Urbana Pike, Frederick, MD, 21704, United States
Battle-Tempered: The Physical and Psychological Consequences of War
Join the National Museum of Civil War Medicine and partner organizations for a unique one-day conference.
8:30 AM – 9:30 AM
Monocacy National Battlefield
“Character, Warrior Identity, and Moral Leadership: Union Colonel Charles Gilpin at Monocacy and in Peace”
Stephen A. Goldman, MD
9:30 AM – 10:15 AM
Visitor Center and Museum
10:15 AM – 12:00 PM
Caravan Battlefield Tour
Led by NPS Ranger and Public Historian Matt Borders
Noon
Lunch on your own in Frederick, Maryland
National Museum of Civil War Medicine self-tour
1:45 PM – 2:45 PM
C. Burr Artz Public Library
Frederick, Maryland
“‘Where We Were Fairly Treated’: Marylanders at the Gettysburg Seminary Hospital”
Codie Eash
Seminary Ridge Museum and Education Center
2:45 PM – 3:45 PM
“Clara Barton, the Missing Soldiers Office, and What War Leaves in Its Wake”
Madeleine Thompson
Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Combat Veterans’ Experience Panel

REGISTRATION IS FREE AND REQUIRED!
REGISTER HERE

Dead Letter Office Images: The Civil War's Lost Sentiments
2026-09-19 14:00 - 15:00 | Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum, 437 7th Street NW, Washington, 20004, United States
During the Civil War years, hundreds of thousands of soldiers wrote letters home, many containing card-sized photos of themself. By the end of the conflict, thousands of letters and images remained undelivered at the Dead Letter Office in Washington, D.C. For decades after the war, the employees of the Dead Letter Office went to extraordinary efforts to return these images to a rightful recipient. Melissa shares photos from her collection of Dead Letter Office images and tell the touching story of these interrupted sentiments and the noble efforts by many to send them home.
Melissa A. Winn is the Director of Marketing and Communications for the National Museum of Civil War Medicine. Previously, she was the Marketing Manager for the American Battlefield Trust and Director of Photography for HistoryNet, publisher of nine history-related magazines, including America’s Civil War, American History, and Civil War Times. Melissa is a Senior Editor for Military Images magazine, with a regular column focused on women and the Civil War. She is the editor of Shavings and The Chronicle, the member newsletter and magazine of the Early American Industries Association, is a member of the Board of Directors of the Civil War Roundtable Congress and the Manassas Battlefield Trust; and serves as President of the Bull Run Civil War Round Table.
Melissa is a member of the Professional Photographers Association, Authors Guild, Women’s Relief Corps, and the Center for Civil War Photography. She collects Civil War photographs and ephemera, with an emphasis on Dead Letter Office images and Union General John A. Rawlins, chief of staff to General Ulysses S. Grant.

We Want More History! Preservation at the Clara Barton National Historic Site and the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office
2026-09-27 13:00 - 14:00 | Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum, 437 7th Street NW, Washington, 20004, United States
Join us for a conversation on the preservation of Clara Barton’s legacy at two historic sites: the Clara Barton National Historic Site in Glen Echo, MD, and the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum in Washington, DC. Speakers will share the preservation history of the Missing Soldiers Office and what projects are forthcoming at the Museum. Additionally, attendees will have a first-look at a new immersive 3D virtual tour of the Clara Barton National Historic and learn how it combines cutting-edge technology with historic artifacts and archives. Presented by the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum, the Clara Barton Fund, and the National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites, this program pulls back the curtain on preservation work – and explores the role you can play in it.

Admission is FREE, but reservations are required.

Can’t make it in person? RSVP anyway! You can request notification when the video recording is available and learn about ways to get involved.
Speakers

Liz Witherspoon is the co-founder and CEO of the Clara Barton Fund, the philanthropic partner of the Clara Barton National Historic Site. The fund was established to ensure that Clara Barton’s remarkable legacy of courage, compassion, and tireless service continues to educate, inspire, and resonate with new generations. Liz has leadership experience in the public and private sectors in organizations focused on research and education.

Sylvia Jordan is the Clara Barton Fund Summer Fellow and a third-year History PhD Candidate at Georgetown University. She studies African-American History with a focus on the transition from slavery to freedom in the Alabama Blackbelt.

Madeleine Thompson is the Site Manager of the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum, part of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining the Museum, Madeleine received her Master of Arts in Sexual Dissidence from the University of Sussex where she completed her dissertation on medieval women’s bedrooms. Madeleine also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from West Virginia University with minors in History and Women’s and Gender Studies.

Monica Brady-Myerov is a Board member of the Clara Barton Fund and is the publisher of the Vineyard Gazette Media Group, which produces 7 publications. Before joining the Gazette, she was the founder and CEO of Listenwise, an award-winning listening skills platform and was an award-winning public radio reporter for nearly 25 years.

Occupied Alexandria: How the Civil War Transformed a Southern City
2027-04-24 14:00 - 15:00 | Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum, 437 7th Street NW, Washington, 20004, United States
The day after Virginia’s secession in May 1861, Union troops marched from Washington to occupy its neighbor Alexandria. A former powerhouse in the slave trade, Alexandria was the first Confederate city in Virginia to be occupied during the Civil War and governed under strict martial law. Overnight, this bustling urban town on the Potomac River transformed into a center of disease, death, and debauchery. Viewing all residents as potential threats regardless of allegiance, the military government resorted to heavy-handed actions to control its transient soldier population, counteract civilian opposition, combat waves of gunshot wounds and illness, and imprison those deemed disloyal to the Union cause. Drawing upon true accounts of civilian and soldier experiences, historian Madeline Feierstein explores whether Union authorities kept order within the city or watched it fall into chaos.
Madeline Feierstein is an Alexandria, VA historian and founder of the educational & historical consulting company Rooted in Place, LLC. A native of Washington, D.C., her work has been showcased across the Capital Region. A member of Emerging Civil War, Madeline has also written for Emerging Revolutionary War, Civil War Monitor, and the National Museum of Civil War Medicine. She leads significant projects on the history of hospitals, prisons, and wartime America. Her first book, Occupied Alexandria: How the Civil War Transformed a Southern City, was published in 2026 and she is currently working on a biography of Civil War surgeon Dr. Edwin Bentley. Madeline holds a Bachelor of Science in Criminology from George Mason University and a Master’s in American History from Southern New Hampshire University. Explore her research and book a guided tour at www.madelinefeierstein.com.
