Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office

At 437 7th St NW in Washington, DC, Clara Barton’s Missing Soldiers Office preserves the rooms where she lived and organized searches for men missing after the Civil War. Walk through the restored rooms and see letters from families seeking news of their relatives, along with objects recovered from an attic crawl space after nearly 130 years. The museum also explains Barton’s role in establishing the American Red Cross. Most of the visit involves reading exhibits, so allow time to move through the upper-floor rooms.

Barton’s office after the Civil War

Clara Barton lived in the building and used it as a base between visits to Civil War battlefields and hospitals. After the war, she organized efforts here to find out what had happened to missing soldiers. The office connected her work with families seeking news of relatives who had not returned.

Letters from those families form part of the exhibits. They give the search a personal dimension, showing the requests for information that reached Barton and her staff.

Rooms and attic discoveries

The museum occupies restored rooms in the old building, including spaces on the upper floors where Barton and her staff carried out their work. Exhibits also tell how objects and documents were found in an attic crawl space after being hidden for nearly 130 years.

Plan to read as you move through the rooms. Much of the display uses written interpretation, and some areas can be dim, so a flashlight may help you read the panels.