Amy Morris Bradley -- Establishing Schools In Wilmington: From Diary And Letters, 1867-1871

Amy Morris Bradley (1823-1904) served as a nurse during the Civil War. After the war, she was asked to serve as a missionary worker for the American Unitarian Association (AUA) and the Soldiers' Memorial Society, founded by the AUA to honor Unitarian soldiers who had died fighting for the Union cause. Her assignment was to open and manage a mission in Wilmington, NC. Since other missionary organizations had already established schools for former slaves and schools for white children had been destroyed or deserted, she determined that the greatest need was for a school for poor white children. For the next thirty-eight years she developed and ran several schools, including a teacher-training institute. Her diary entries and letters reveal the hard work and dedication required to sustain this effort as well as her commitment to raising a generation of white children who would respect people of all races.