Susie King Taylor

Published June 10, 2026 at 10:04 AM EDT

A black-and-white full-length portrait shows a woman standing in a dark dress and jacket with a head covering draped over her shoulders. — This photo provided by the Library of Congress shows a portrait of Susie King Taylor, who served more than three years as nurse with the 33rd U.S. Colored Troops Infantry Regiment during the American Civil War, although officially enrolled as a laundress. She also taught children and adults to read while serving with the regiment. Georgia's oldest city, steeped in history predating the American Revolution, made a historic break with its slavery-era past, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023, as Savannah's city council voted to rename a downtown square in honor of Taylor.

Susie King Taylor was born into slavery in Georgia in 1848. With the help of her grandmother, she was able to access an underground education in a time when teaching African Americans to read and write was illegal.

She escaped slavery during the Civil War and went to live on Union-occupied St. Simons Island. There, while only 14 years old, she established a school, one of the first to openly educate African-American children. As the war progressed, she was enrolled with the 33rd US Colored Infantry Regiment. She is considered to be the first African American Army Nurse.

In 1902, Susie published a memoir. Her book is the first and only account of an African American woman's experience during the Civil War.