New Jersey History and Sites

Clara Barton is best known for being the founder of the American Red Cross, but did you know she is also credited with establishing the first free public school in the state of New Jersey?

Clarissa Harlowe Barton, also known as Clara Barton, was born on Christmas Day 1821. By the age of 17, she had received her teaching certification. She believed in the importance of education for all children.

After the death of her mother in the 1851, Clara Barton went to visit a friend, Mary Norton, in South Jersey. Upon visiting the Bordentown area, she observed a number of children in streets. She was stunned as to why all these children were idling around. Upon discussing matters with the children, families, and friends, she discovered the children were not in school because they could not afford private school and there were no free public schools in New Jersey. Laws were passed in New Jersey to allow for free public education in, but there was nothing to enforce the law, so no free public schools were established. Since Barton’s home of Massachusetts already had a long history of offering free education to children, she was outraged and made it her mission to open a free public school in the area. As a result, Barton met with the local school committee to discuss letting her teach the children in a free public school.

Barton was given a one-room schoolhouse, which was previously used by Quakers and other religious groups for educational purposes. In 1852, Barton opened the first free public school in New Jersey with only six male students. On the first day, Barton and the students were tasked with cleaning up the schoolhouse due to the unkept state of the building, but true to her word, Barton taught the students. By the second week, the classroom size grew to 55 boys, causing the schoolhouse to become packed. By the third week, girls were showing up to attend school as well. With so many students, the children were receiving lessons from teachers, recruited by Barton, in locations all over the city. In fact, parents began pulling their children out private schools to send them to the free public school instead. Over the course of a year, the number of students grew to over 600 students.

As a result of the high demand for free public education, a new public eight-room school was built. Despite Barton’s qualifications, a male principal was chosen to run the new school over Barton. The male principal was paid twice as much as Barton. Barton tried fighting for equal pay to her male counterparts, but her request was denied. Ultimately, Barton taught at the school from 1852 to 1854.

After leaving Bordentown in 1854, Barton moved to Washington, D.C. and became the first full-time employee in the Patent Office of the Federal Government. Although, her work in New Jersey was not without recognition because 29 New Jersey towns opened free public schools by 1855. Her work to open the small schoolhouse had exponential influence on the education system in New Jersey. However, when the Civil War began, Barton founded the American Red Cross to help the soldiers, which is what Barton became best remembered for.

In the following decades after Barton left the schoolhouse, two African American families resided at the premises. By the early twentieth century, the schoolhouse building was abandoned and fell into disrepair. In 1921, school children raised money for building’s preservation. In 2005, the Bordentown Historical Society purchased the building and surrounding property. The Clara Barton Schoolhouse received a grant from the New Jersey Historic Trust Preserve in November 2021. The purpose of the grant was to restore the exterior of the Schoolhouse to its appearance in 1921. There weren’t enough historical records about Clara Barton’s 1852 time at the schoolhouse to restore the building to that era.

The Schoolhouse is open by appointment only. However, there is so much in history in Bordentown that it’s the worth the trip. It’s a beautifully restored schoolhouse and worth checking out.

Resources

Barton, William Eleazar. The Life of Clara Barton: Founder of the American Red Cross. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1922. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Life_of_Clara_Barton/HiYKAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

“Bordentown Historic District (Clara Barton Schoolhouse).” New Jersey Historic Trust: Office Site of the State of New Jersey. Accessed on April 25, 2026. https://www.nj.gov/dca/njht/funded/sitedetails/BordentownHistoricDistrict.shtml

“Clara Barton Schoolhouse.” Jersey Through Jersey. Accessed on April 25, 2026. https://www.journeythroughjersey.com/sites/clara-barton-schoolhouse/

“Clara Barton Schoolhouse.” Visit South Jersey. Accessed on April 25, 2026. https://visitsouthjersey.com/directory/clara-barton-schoolhouse/

“Clara Barton Schoolhouse Restoration Update (2/6/25).” Bordentown Historical Society. Accessed on April 25, 2026. https://bordentownhistory.org/clara-barton-schoolhouse/

“Clara Barton’s school house, Bordentown, N.J.” Photograph. Bordentown, NJ, between 1919 and 1929. From Library of Congress: American National Red Cross photograph collection. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2017678462/ (accessed on April 25, 2026).

Thawley, Bill. “Clara Barton: The Rest of Her Story (Part 1).” American Red Cross. Accessed on April 25, 2026. https://www.redcross.org/local/new-jersey/about-us/news-and-events/news/clara-barton–the-rest-of-her-story-.html?srsltid=AfmBOoqgrzcex0NF4MX3yVfGAfrZYjowBvDJkQ9a3IM1SUzUk_NwpvNe

Roberts, Russell. Rediscover the Hidden New Jersey. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2015. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Rediscover_the_Hidden_New_Jersey/5tswBwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

Scheller, Kay and Bill Scheller. Discover Your Fun New Jersey Off the Beach. Essex, CT: Globe Pequot, 2023.