E. Florence Barker (née, Whittredge; March 29, 1840 – September 11, 1897) was a leader and an activist in the American woman's club movement.

[3] On June 18, 1863, she married Colonel Thomas Erskine Barker (1839-1896), of Gilmanton, New Hampshire, he being on a furlough, recovering from wounds received in the Battle of Chancellorsville during the Civil War.

While presiding over the State convention in Boston, January, 1883, she welcomed Paul Vandervoort, of Omaha, Nebraska, Commander-in-chief of the G. A. R., and other prominent people.

[4] In general orders issued May 1, 1883, announcing the arrangements for the Seventeenth National Encampment, to be held in Denver, Colorado, July 24-28, Vandervoort cordially invited representatives of the W. R. C. and other societies working for the G. A. R. to meet at Denver and perfect a national organization, adding: "They should bring their rituals, rules, by-laws, and plans of organization, and if possible agree on a uniform mode or system of procedure throughout the country.

Several of the delegates present refused to endorse the clause in the rules and regulations admitting to membership other women than relations of soldiers.

The convention voted to hold its annual sessions on the date and in the city chosen by the National Encampment, G. A. R., and then elected officers for the ensuing year, with Barker as president.

To prove that a national order was needed, that the plan adopted at Denver was the best, and that women were capable of managing a large organization with ritualistic forms of parliamentary rules, required excellent judgment, tact, and a love for the work.

She wrote over a 1,000 letters during the year she served as National President, visited the Departments of Maine, New Hampshire, and Connecticut, and performed numerous other duties.

She declined a re-election, but was made a life member of the National Executive Board, and until her death, was a leader in the affairs of the order.

She represented the order at the International Council of Women held in Washington, D.C., in 1889, and favored progressive action when advocating the claims of woman's work for the veterans.

A room at the home, furnished by the Department of Massachusetts W. R. C, contained her portrait, and was designated by a banner with the inscription, "Dedicated in honor of Mrs. E. Florence Barker, first National President of the Woman's Relief Corps.