Month: January 2022

𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗔 𝗦𝗛𝗘𝗣𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗗 (1851-1915) Ella Shepard, soprano, pianist and reformer, was the matriarch of the Fisk Jubilee Singers and also a confidante of Frederick Douglass. She was born a slave in 1851 on Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage plantation and was a biracial relation of Jackson’s family. When her father moved to Ohio, a German woman taught her… Continue reading Ella Sheppard

Susan King Taylor 1848-1912 Susie King Taylor is known for being the first Black nurse during the American Civil War. Besides nursing the wounded of the 1st South Carolina Volunteer Infantry Regiment, Taylor was the first Black woman to self-publish her memoirs. She was the author of Reminiscences of My Life in Camp with the… Continue reading Susie King Taylor

Eartha Mary Magdalene White (1876-1974) was born near Jacksonville, Florida, the thirteenth child of former slaves. She was soon adopted by Clara and Lafayette White, who were themselves also former slaves. Lafayette, a laborer and wagon driver, died when Eartha was still young. Clara, who worked in a variety of domestic services, provided Eartha with… Continue reading Eartha and Clara White