“She and the women like her were ornery, assertive, relentlessly capable, weathered and threadbare. She was a monument of dedication to her family, her work, and her community.”

Her oldest son, Frederick, put on a uniform and went off to fight. Impatient with Lincoln for not announcing emancipation right away, she went down to Washington when he finally proclaimed that the slaves would be free, and was received privately in the White House. The scene is part of our folklore. “So this is the little woman who made this big

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