Clarissa Harlowe Barton (December 25, 1821 – April 12, 1912) was a pioneering American nurse who founded the American Red Cross. She was a hospital nurse in the American Civil War, a teacher, and patent clerk. Nursing education was not very formalized at that time and she did not attend nursing school, so she provided self-taught nursing care. Barton is noteworthy for doing humanitarian work and civil rights advocacy at a time before women had the right to vote. She was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1973.
She had a face that could stop a clock but that didn’t dissuade the Royal Oak Board of Education from naming one of its junior highs after her.
I spent two years at Clara Barton Junior High. Those two years changed my life forever.
Fire Number One
The biggest social change from elementary school to junior high was we had school dances every Friday night. Young teens need to vent their energy and school dances seemed like a good way to accomplish that goal. The dances were sponsored by the school, but in order for the school to make sure that they could be supported each week, parents needed to volunteer to serve as chaperons. School officials attended while the watchful eye of volunteer parents made sure that everything went off as planned. My parents only volunteered once, but their appearance was eventful.
My dad drove a Faygo delivery truck and his hours were never set in stone. He worked until he completed his daily route. After each day’s work he had to load his truck for the next day before he headed home. His load was determined in part through pre-orders that were called into the plant or “guesses” that my dad made based upon the prior week’s order. Large stores called in special requests, but “mom and pop” locations varied from week to week and day to day, so much of what was loaded was based upon past experience.
On the Friday night that my parents volunteered to chaperon, my dad ran late. He rushed into the house, skipped dinner, ran into the bathroom to take a shower, got dressed, loaded my mom, me and Bill from across the street into the car, and drove the mile plus to school. My sisters, Sharron and Jackie, were left home with the babysitter, Diane, from across the street.
Our two hour dance was cut short when my mom grabbed Bill and me to head home. She had received a call at school that our house was on fire. The girls were safe, but the house was not. We could see the lights of the fire trucks as we made the two block drive from 11 Mile Road towards our house.
We had to park a couple of houses down the street and walk the rest of the way. There was a large crowd of people, and by the time we arrived most of the fire had been doused. A firefighter was still on the roof, but most were coming in and out of both the front and side doors of the house. Bill and I jumped the neighbor’s fence to gain a better view and the first room we saw was the kitchen. We both thought the paint was melting on the walls. We learned later that what we saw as “melting paint” was really streaks of wet smoke creating a “melting paint” illusion.
We jumped a second fence to gain access to our backyard and looked into the basement. We could see water dripping from the ceiling and large pools of water on the floor. By the time we hopped back over the fences, the firefighters were packing up their gear and getting ready to head out.
Bill’s parents invited us to spend the night with them. As we walked towards their house an “insurance man” appeared. He came to help my parents deal with the loss. While the home was badly damaged, everything could be repaired.
After the girls settled into bed, the Grahams and my parents sat down with the insurance man in the Graham’s living room to talk about what would happen next. Bill and I listened from the kitchen. The “insurance man” did most of the talking and when he finished he asked my dad to sign some papers, and Dad did.
After Dad signed the papers the man explained that he was not really from the insurance company, but rather, a construction company that would be doing the repairs. (Mom later referred to the man as an ambulance chaser.) Both Mom and Dad were angry. Dad jumped up and as he was cocking his arm to hit the man, Mr. Graham stopped him.
Mom protested the man’s claim and said, “I don’t believe you! Let me see that!” The insurance man handed her the document and she ripped it up. Mr. Graham yelled at the “insurance man” to “Get out before I turn Tony loose on you.” And the man left.
We never did find out what actually caused the fire. The fire department offered up two theories. They determined that the fire started in the clothes hamper that was located in the basement. The hamper hung from the basement ceiling. A clothes shoot dropped from the bathroom to the hamper below. There was a doorbell relay that hung on the ceiling above the hamper.
Theory one: When the babysitter arrived, she rang the doorbell. The doorbell relay may have shorted out, caused a spark, and the spark fell on the clothes below.
Theory two: My dad was a smoker. When he rushed into the house he may have thrown a cigarette down the clothes shoot with his dirty clothes. He was in a rush, and in his haste, he may have inadvertently caused the fire.
I’d bet on theory two.
TBC