By: Jordan Meadows
Staff Writer
Born into slavery on a plantation in Georgia in 1848, Susie King Taylor overcame incredible odds to become a pioneer in education, nursing, and activism for African Americans during and after the Civil War.
For the first seven years of her life, she lived on a plantation in Georgia, where education for enslaved people was strictly prohibited. However, in 1855, Susie was allowed to live with her free grandmother, Dolly Reed, in Savannah, Georgia. This relocation opened the door for Susie to receive an education, albeit in secret.
In an era when it was illegal for enslaved individuals to learn how to read or write, Susie attended two underground schools. The first was taught by Mrs. Woodhouse, a free woman of color, who taught a small group of children in secrecy to avoid attracting the attention of authorities. Later, Susie continued her education under the tutelage of another free woman of color, Mrs. Mathilda Beasley, who was also instrumental in educating Savannah’s Black community.
In 1862, at the age of 14 in the midst of the Civil War, Taylor managed to escape slavery with her uncle and other African Americans. They fled to the Union-held territory near Fort Pulaski, where Susie would spend the rest of the War. After her escape, she joined thousands of other formerly enslaved people on Union-occupied St. Simons Island, Georgia.
It was here that Taylor became the first Black teacher to openly educate African Americans in Georgia. With the support of Union officers, she established the first school for African American children in Georgia, marking a significant moment in the history of Black education. She even created a night school for adults, further expanding educational opportunities for the formerly enslaved.
In addition to her work as a teacher, Taylor also contributed significantly to the Union war effort. In 1862, she married Edward King, a Black officer in the 33rd United States Colored Infantry Regiment. As a member of the regiment, Susie worked as a nurse and laundress, but her contributions extended far beyond these roles. She taught the soldiers to read and write during their off hours, and she was even trained to handle a musket, which she could wield effectively.
Her experiences as a nurse took her to a hospital for African American soldiers in Beaumont, South Carolina, where she worked closely with Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross. For more than four years, Susie served without pay.
After the Civil War, Susie and her husband Edward moved to Savannah, where she continued her work in education. She opened a school for African American children, but with the advent of public schools, she struggled to maintain her students and income. In 1866, Susie and Edward faced personal loss when Edward passed away just before the birth of their first child.
Undeterred, Susie moved to Boston in the early 1870s, where she eventually remarried Russell Taylor. There, she became involved with the Women’s Relief Corps, an organization that supported veterans of the Union Army. In 1893, she was elected president of Corps 67.
In 1902, Susie Taylor made history once again by publishing “Reminiscences of My Life in Camp with the 33d United States Colored Troops, Late 1st S.C. Volunteers”. This memoir made Susie the first African American woman to publish an account of her experiences during the Civil War. The book shed light on the racism and discrimination that continued to affect Black people, even after the war ended, but it also emphasized hope and progress. Susie’s positive outlook in the face of adversity can be seen in her concluding words:
“What a wonderful revolution! In 1861 the Southern papers were full of advertisements for ‘slaves,’ but now, despite all the hindrances and ‘race problems,’ my people are striving to attain the full standard of all other races born free in the sight of God, and in a number of instances have succeeded. Justice we ask to be citizens of these United States, where so many of our people have shed their blood with their white comrades, that the stars and stripes should never be polluted.”
The years following the Civil War were marked by systemic racism and the erosion of civil rights for African Americans. In 1898, Susie faced a harsh reminder of this reality when she attempted to travel to Louisiana to bring her sick son back to Boston. Due to segregation laws, the train company refused to allow her to purchase a sleeper car ticket for her son, forcing her to stay behind in Louisiana and care for him. This experience left her questioning the true extent of the progress made by the Civil War.
Once her son passed away, she returned to Boston, where she would live out the rest of her life. Coincidentally, she was neighbors with Julia O. Henson, a co-founder of the NAACP. Taylor died in 1912.
In the years since her death, Susie King Taylor’s contributions to education, civil rights, and the Union Army have been recognized and celebrated. In 2015, the Susie King Taylor Community School was founded in Savannah, Georgia, in her honor. Additionally, Taylor Square in Savannah, once named for the pro-slavery John C. Calhoun, was renamed in Susie King Taylor’s honor in 2023. In 2018, she was inducted posthumously into the Georgia Women of Achievement Hall of Fame for her outstanding contributions to education and freedom.
