Susie King Taylor Women's Institute and Ecology Center

08/07/2026

08/07/2026

A wreath. A monument. And two women who were there to see it happen.

Welcome to the first stop on our HERstory Tour. Standing at the 54th Massachusetts / Robert Gould Shaw Memorial in Boston, we uncover the roles Harriet Tubman and Susie King Taylor played in the history of the regiment and the monument.

The 54th Massachusetts was a United States Colored Troops unit, made up primarily of Black soldiers and led by a white commanding officer, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. Tubman served Shaw his last breakfast before the assault on Fort Wagner, and both Tubman and Taylor were present together at the same Memorial Day commemoration at the monument in May 1905, where Taylor led the children's choir. Taylor went on to settle in Boston after the war, where she organized Corps 67 of the Women's Relief Corps and became its president in 1893.

The memorial itself, sculpted by Augustus Saint-Gaudens on Boston Common, depicts Colonel Shaw and his troops marching down Beacon Street on May 28, 1863, as they left Boston for South Carolina. Weeks later, Shaw led the assault on Fort Wagner, was shot through the chest and died almost instantly. Nearly half his regiment was killed, wounded, or captured. This memorial was the first time African American men were depicted as capable individuals rather than stereotypes. The sculpture took Saint-Gaudens 14 years to complete, and it's now considered one of America's greatest public monuments.

Learn more about the memorial: https://shaw54th.org/the-memorial/
Read about Harriet Tubman's 1905 visit: https://shaw54th.org/harriet-tubman-at-the-shaw-memorial-newspaper-article/
Read about Susie King Taylor's home in Boston: https://www.bwht.org/explore/home-of-susie-king-taylor/
Susie King Taylor Women's Institute and Ecology Center

08/06/2026

Today marks the 178th birthday of Susie King Taylor, a former slave and first African-American US Army nurse who served during the Civil War with the 33rd USCT.

08/06/2026

Today marks the day when Susie King Taylor was born 178 years ago on August 6, 1848 on Isle of Wight in Midway, Liberty County, GA.

The Susie King Taylor Women's Institute and Ecology Center and Susie King Taylor Gullah Geechee Museum is truly grateful to Col. Robert Gould Shaw, Camp 54, SUVCW, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War - National Organization, and National Woman's Relief Corps for recognizing Susie King Taylor, a heroine of freedom during the Civil War, on her birthday!

08/02/2026

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SUSIE!
A Community-Wide Celebration
August 8th

The National Park Service has acknowledged Liberty County's native daughter- Susie King Taylor - as a national .

Susie King Taylor was born on the Isle of Wight on August 6, 1848 during the Antebellum period.

Liberty County will commemorate the birthday of our national 🎉

Saturday, August 8th
10:00 A.M.-11:30 A.M.
Susie King Taylor Freedom Park
2059 Isle of Wight Rd
Midway, GA 31320

There will be birthday cake, fun, & games! Bring your kids and their skates, too! 🛼🛼

We are very grateful to all of the supporters of this Community-wide !

This Event is Open to the Public.
Come one. Come all.

07/30/2026

Inside the Vault | |

07/26/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/1E324nH584/

On June 2, 1872, in the middle of the night, a fire broke out in the Douglass’s Rochester, NY home in a case of suspected arson. Anna Murray Douglass was asleep in the family home on South Avenue, as well as her oldest child Rosetta, Rosetta's husband Nathaniel Sprague, and their young children. At this time, Frederick Douglass was away on political business and travelled all night to return home after hearing the news. He found his family safe, but naturally traumatized and distraught after learning of the malicious nature of the fire.

While everyone was thankful they survived, they lost all of their belongings, including 16 volumes containing "The North Star" Newspaper, "The Douglass Monthly", and "The Frederick Douglass Paper". Soon after, the family moved to Washington, D.C. to begin a new life somewhere a bit safer for African Americans. Today the site that once occupied their home in Rochester is the location of the Anna Murray Douglass Academy School No. 12.

Has there been a time when you have had to start over? How did you handle it?

(NPS Photo)