Frank Carlson Library

An introduction to the life of the civil rights heroine and suffrage activist describes how she repeatedly risked her life to save dozens of slaves and became an equal rights icon in post-Civil War.

"When I was young, people called me courageous and competitive. I used those qualities to serve as a commander in the U.S. Navy. The leadership skills I learned in combat helped earn me a place first as a congressman in the U.S. House of Representatives, and later as a U.S. senator-but that was just the beginning. I became another kind of commander, the commander in chief of the U.S. armed forces, when I was elected president. I was the youngest man...