uzie King Taylor made a remarkable journey from slavery to freedom through service with the first black Civil War regiment to fight for freedom in America's history. Written toward the end of her life, her memories are not those of a battle veteran, though she helped care for plenty of shattered bodies, heard the guns, and saw rebel soldiers at close range. At risk to her life and freedom, she served throughout the war as a teenaged nurse. Assigned as a laundress, she actually did very little laundering but instead played an important role in the care and spirits of black soldiers and their white commanders. Her depth of feeling about the past and her passionate hopes for the future bring her writing to life. This is an important contribution to American history that is made available in this volume for the first time for e-readers. Susie King Taylor (1848-1912) was an African American army nurse with the first black Union troops during the Civil War. She wrote the only memoir of an African-American woman who had experience with combat troops. She was also the first African American to teach in a school for former slaves in Georgia. There is great beauty in some of the small details of Suzie King's recollections. She briefly ponders in amazement her ability to acclimate to the horrors of war. "It seems strange how our aversion to seeing suffering is overcome in war, how we are able to see the most sickening sights, such as men with their limbs blown off and mangled by the deadly shells, without a shudder; and instead of turning away, how we hurry to assist in alleviating their pain, bind up their wounds, and press the cool water to their parched lips, with feelings only of sympathy and pity." She also writes of her delight in becoming proficient at field-stripping, cleaning, and shooting a musket. Her final chapter is an eloquent plea for civil rights and a recognition that emancipation's promise was still a distant goal. Every memoir of the American Civil War provides us with another view of the catastrophe that changed the country forever. For the first time, this long out-of-print volume is available as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers and smartphones. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE by clicking the cover above or download a sample.

In Reminiscences of My Life in Camp, Susie King Taylor offers a rare and fascinating firsthand account of her experiences as a nurse and teacher with the 33rd United States Colored Troops during the American Civil War. Born into slavery in Georgia, Taylor's memoir provides valuable insights into the daily lives and struggles of African American women during this pivotal period in American history. Through her engaging and often poignant narrative, Taylor sheds light on the complex realities of race, gender, and class in the 19th century, making this book an essential read for anyone interested in the untold stories of the Civil War era.

The New York Public Library Digital Library presents the full text of "Reminiscences of My Life in Camp with the 33d United States Colored Troops Late 1st S.C. Volunteers" from the library's Schomburg African American Women Writers of the 19th Century collection. Former slave Susie King Taylor (1848-1912) wrote the book, which was originally published in 1902.

Susie King Taylor was the only African-American woman to publish a memoir of her Civil War wartime experiences. Negro narratives of the Civil War are few. Susie King Taylor's 1902 slender volume, "Reminiscences of My Life in Camp," written with an earnest simplicity, records in camp the experience of a woman born a slave who was for four years a regimental laundress and nurse in the Thirty-third United States Colored Infantry, earlier First South Carolina Colored Troop. In April 1862, Susie Baker and many other African Americans fled to St. Simons Island, occupied at the time by Union forces. While at the school on St. Simons Island, Baker married Edward King, a black noncommissioned officer in the First South Carolina Volunteers of African Descent (later reflagged as 33rd United States Colored Troops). For three years she moved with her husband's and brothers' regiment, serving as nurse and laundress, and teaching many of the black soldiers to read and write during their off-duty hours. As Taylor notes, "There are many people who do not know what some of the colored women did during the war. There were hundreds of them who assisted the Union soldiers by hiding them and helping them to escape. Many were punished for taking food to the prison stockades for the prisoners." In describing Confederates' treacherous use of blackface, Taylor writes: "When the rebels saw these boats, they ran out of the city. The regiment landed and marched up the street, where they spied the rebels who had fled from the city. They were hiding behind a house about a mile or so away, their faces blackened to disguise themselves as negroes, and our boys, as they advanced toward them, halted a second, saying, 'They are black men! Let them come to us.'" About the author: "Susie King Taylor (1848 -1912) was the first Black Army nurse. She tended to an all Black army troop named the 1st South Carolina Volunteers (Union), later redesignated the 33rd United States Colored Infantry Regiment, where her husband served, for four years during the Civil War. Despite her service, like many African-American nurses, she was never paid for her work. As the author of Reminiscences of My Life in Camp with the 33d United States Colored Troops, Late 1st S.C. Volunteers, she was the only African-American woman to publish a memoir of her wartime experiences. She was also the first African American to teach openly in a school for former slaves in Georgia. At this school in Savannah, Georgia, she taught children during the day and adults at night. She is in the 2018 class of inductees of the Georgia Women of Achievement.

Recounts the story of Fanny Kemble and her two daughters, one of whom lived with her mother in the North, while the other remained with their father in the South.

From the author of The Friend, winner of the 2018 National Book Award. "The masterpiece of the ‘I knew Susan’ minigenre" – A.O. Scott, The New York Times A poignant, intimate memoir of one of America’s most esteemed and fascinating cultural figures, and a deeply felt tribute. Sigrid Nunez was an aspiring writer when she first met Susan Sontag, already a legendary figure known for her polemical essays, blinding intelligence, and edgy personal style. Sontag introduced Nunez to her son, the writer David Rieff, and the two began dating. Soon Nunez moved into the apartment that Rieff and Sontag shared. As Sontag told Nunez, “Who says we have to live like everyone else?” Sontag’s influence on Nunez, who went on to become a successful novelist, would be profound. Described by Nunez as “a natural mentor” who saw educating others as both a moral obligation and a source of endless pleasure, Sontag inevitably infected those around her with her many cultural and intellectual passions. In this poignant, intimate memoir, Nunez speaks of her gratitude for having had, as an early model, “someone who held such an exalted, unironic view of the writer’s vocation.” Published more than six years after Sontag’s death, Sempre Susan is a startlingly truthful portrait of this outsized personality, who made being an intellectual a glamorous occupation.