Letters and Diary of Laura M. Towne: 1862-1884 (Annotated)

On April 9, 1862, 37-year-old Laura Matilda Towne left her home in Philadelphia for 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 free 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...