User:Jordynnpalethorpe/Susie King Taylor

Formation of the 33rd Regiment Colored Troops
Throughout their time in the regiment, both Susie and her husband, Sergeant Edward King, continued to expand the education of many colored soldiers by teaching them how to read and write in their spare time. ''Although Susie's occupation title was laundress, while on Morris Island, she spent little time doing these duties. Rather, she packed haversacks and cartridge packs for the soldiers to use in combat and carried out orders for the commanders. She is also believed to have been entrusted with rifled muskets by the regiment's officers and rumored to be a dead shot. She was even trusted to engage in active picket line duty, contributing more to the war than education and nursing services. ''

Reconstruction
After the American Civil War ended and the Reconstruction Era began, Susie and her husband Edward King, left the 33rd regiment and returned to Savannah, Georgia. While Taylor opened a school for African American children, whom she called the "children of freedom," and an adult night school on South Broad Street, Edward tried to find a job in his trade as a carpenter.

During the Reconstruction Era, Taylor became a civil rights activist after witnessing much discrimination in the South, where Jim Crow and the Ku Klux Klan mocked and terrorized African Americans. In her book, Taylor mentions the constant lynching of Blacks and how southern laws were against anyone who was not white. Towards the end of her life, Taylor sought to provide aid to Afro-Cubans after the end of the Spanish American War. Taylor noticed that Afro-Cubans were being discriminated against in a similar way to what African Americans faced during Reconstruction. ''Her history as an educator also fueled her activism as she challenged the Union Daughters of the Confederacy in their campaign to rid slavery from school curriculums. ''

Women's Relief Corps
Susie King Taylor was part of the organizing of Corps 67 of the Women's Relief Corps in 1886. She held many positions, including guard, secretary, and treasurer. In 1893, she was elected president of corps 67. In 1896, in response to an order to take a census of all of the Union Veterans now residing in Massachusetts, she helped create a complete roster for the veterans of the American Civil War which would benefit many of her fellow comrades. ''Susie King Taylor was specifically a member of the all black corps in Boston, Massachusetts called the Robert A. Bell Post. ''