Dear Military Researchers:

Author Jane E. Schultz wrote a fascinating article on women in the Civil War: "Seldom thanked, never praised, and scarcely recognized: gender and racism in Civil War hospitals."

It's a refreshing chronicle of Civil War history and for once, it is about women who contributed to the Union's war effort. Perhaps this article and others like them will overshadow the cherished stereotypic "Miss Anne" novelettes that clog the literary, film and TV memory of American history.

Schultz doesn't sugar coat the experience of white and African-American women. By telling their stories of sexism and racism, she links their names to Civil War history. "Approximately l0 percent of the Union's female relief workforce was of African descent: free blacks of diverse education and class background who earned wages or worked without pay in the larger cause of freedom, and runaway slaves who sought sanctuary in military camps and hospitals."

Susie King Taylor was one of them. Read her story and others at the link below:

Enjoy the article and bookmark King Taylor to Civil War history.

K Wyer Lane