Susie King Taylor

Memoirist

Birthday August 6, 1848

Birth Sign Leo

Birthplace Georgia

DEATH DATE Oct 6, 1912 (64)

#48270 Most Popular

About

African-American author, teacher, and Union Army nurse. She published her memoir, titled Reminiscences of My Life in Camp with the 33d United States Colored Troops, Late 1st S.C. Volunteers, in 1902.

Before Fame

At the age of thirteen, she escaped to Union-occupied St. Simons Island, Georgia, where she subsequently set up a school for formerly enslaved children.

Trivia

Shortly after the conclusion of the American Civil War, she worked in Boston, Massachusetts as a domestic servant. In 2015, the Susie King Taylor Women's Institute and Ecology Center was created in her memory. 

Family Life

She was born into slavery in Liberty County, Georgia. Her first marriage was to 33rd U.S. Colored Infantry Regiment officer Edward King; after King's death, she married Russell L. Taylor.

Associated With

She and Phillis Wheatley were both freed slaves-turned-authors.