On April 9, 1862, 37-year-old Laura Matilda Towne to Port Royal Island, newly captured by the Union forces in the American Civil War. She spent the next 38 years of her life educating and ministering to freed slaves. She maintained the utmost belief in the humanity and possibilities for African-Americans. With her friend, Ellen Murray, she established the Penn Center school on St. Helena Island, the first school for emancipated slaves in the United States. Laura Towne is an vital figure in black history in America. Now a National Historic Landmark, the Penn Center was used during the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s to train movement workers in non-violent civil disobedience. Here are Laura Towne's own letters to her beloved family and excerpts from her diary. The documents contain a fascinating look at African-American emancipation, hunger to learn and work, events of the war, and especially a look at the Reconstruction South. This edition is abridged and annotated. For the first time, this long-out-of-print book is available as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers and smartphones. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE or download a sample.

On April 9, 1862, 37-year-old Laura Matilda Towne to Port Royal Island, newly captured by the Union forces in the American Civil War. She spent the next 38 years of her life educating and ministering to freed slaves. She maintained the utmost belief in the humanity and possibilities for African-Americans. With her friend, Ellen Murray, she established the Penn Center school on St. Helena Island, the first school for emancipated slaves in the United States. Laura Towne is an vital figure in black history in America. Now a National Historic Landmark, the Penn Center was used during the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s to train movement workers in non-violent civil disobedience. Here are Laura Towne's own letters to her beloved family and excerpts from her diary. The documents contain a fascinating look at African-American emancipation, hunger to learn and work, events of the war, and especially a look at the Reconstruction South.

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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.