A Black Women's Civil War Memiors

As a Genealogy teacher and author, I found this book to be very useful. I am a Caucasian, New Englander. I have minimal bias about human colors. This book is very well written, and reading it flows very smoothly, even though my primary interest was in obtaining vital statistics data about the persons identified in this book. Although I am a well educated person, I had to refer to a dictionary on a few occassions, and learned a few new words! To me that is a plus for the author/editor of this book. This book peaked my curiosity to investigate more deeply into various experiences that were presented in this book.

"A Black Woman's Civil War Memoirs," by Susie King Taylor, was first published in 1902. A new edition, edited by Patricia Romero and featuring an introduction by Willie Lee Rose, appeared in 1988. In that new intro Rose declared, "There is nothing even vaguely resembling Susie King Taylor's small volume of random recollections in the entire literature of the Civil War, or in that of any other American conflict insofar as I am aware." Indeed, this book is a rare and valuable historical document.Taylor was born a slave in 1848 on an island off the coast of Georgia. She gained her freedom and worked as a laundress for an African-American Union regiment during the war.Taylor recalls how she learned to read and write and then herself became a teacher. She offers fascinating details about her life with the troops. She had many different duties beyond laundry service. I loved the episode where she recalls concocting "a very delicious custard" from turtle eggs and canned condensed milk, and serving it to the troops.Taylor condemns the lack of appreciation shown for both black and white Civil War veterans. She also condemns early 20th century racism. Reading her book I was reminded of W.E.B. Du Bois' classic "The Souls of Black Folk," which was first published around the same time; I think the two books complement each other well.Taylor ends on a note of hope and pride, noting "my people are striving" for better lives. This book is, in my opinion, an important milestone in African-American literature.

It's a short book (especially when you consider the added historical footnotes and pictures), but very valuable. It's so rare to hear the perspective of someone who was a slave, and who then lived free in the post-war period. Her heartfelt tales of the bigotry of the _post_-war period to me were even more memorable than her focus on the war itself.