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A photograph of a dark-skinned Black woman with a headpiece and wearing all black, nearly her whole body captured by the image.
Photograph of Susie King Taylor (1902).

Susie King Taylor is widely thought to be the first Black nurse in the U.S.

1902

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Photograph of Susie King Taylor (1902).

Susie King Taylor learned reading, writing, and nursing in secret and was able to use her skills after fleeing to St. Simons Island where she served in the 33rd Regiment of the U.S. Colored Troops as a nurse.

She was also asked to set up a school to teach Black people and white people living in poverty to read and write.

In 1902, she is the only Black woman during the Civil War to self-publish a memoir–Reminiscences of My Life in Camp.