Clara Barton's Office, Saved From Destruction, Will be a Historic Site
Commission To Release "A Guide to Women's Historic Sites in Washington, D.C."

GSA# 9656

March 20, 2000
Contact: Eleni Martin
(202) 501-1231

The room in which Clara Barton managed a Missing Persons Office, locating 22,000 of the almost 62,000 soldiers missing after the Civil War, will be dedicated as Washington's newest Women's History site on Wednesday, March 22, 2000 at 1:00pm in front of the building at 437-441 7th Street, NW.

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton and noted author Betty Friedan will speak at the dedication ceremony hosted by the President's Commission on the Celebration of Women in American History and the General Services Administration, to mark the Millennial celebration of Women's History Month. Ellen McCulloch Lovell, Director of the White House Millennium Council, will announce that Clara Barton's Missing Persons Office has been included in the Save America's Treasures program, led by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.

This important historical site, one of the few in Washington honoring the contributions of women, was saved from destruction in 1997 by workers preparing to demolish the building who came upon evidence that Clara Barton had lived and worked there. The General Services Administration and the National Park Service have been working together since then to preserve the site and make it accessible to visitors.

The President's Commission on the Celebration of Women in American History, Co-Chaired by Counselor to the President Ann Lewis and General Services Administration Associate Administrator for Communications Beth Newburger, will also release a guide to women's historical sites in the Washington, DC area. After the dedication, Commission members will join a group of local 7th graders for a bus tour of some of the listed sites.

The Commission was established in 1998 to recommend to the President the best ways to acknowledge and celebrate the accomplishments of women in American history. The dedication of the Clara Barton site and the release of the women's history brochure exemplify three of the Commission's primary recommendations to the President: saving and designating women's history sites, developing a women's history map for our nation's capital, and dedicating markers that recognize women's contributions to history.

For information, contact Aprill Springfield at 202-456-2669 or Eleni Martin at 202-501-1231.