Darwina's Diary

Darwina's Diary: A View of Champion Hill ~ 1865

Edited by Margie Bearss and Rebecca Drake

Darwina’s Diary relates the experiences of Darwina Loud, a young woman who traveled South in 1864 to help in the field of black education. Unaware of the difficult situation awaiting her, she approached
the journey with optimism and determination - optimism that the trip
south would open new doors and determination to make a difference
in the lives of the freed men and women.

Afraid that she would forget the day-to-day experiences of life at Midway Station, Darwina began to keep a little journal of daily events: “Perhaps, it will be pleasant to sit down and look over these pages and see just how ‘life in a tent’ here among the swamps and woods of Mississippi - in the lonely camp of a regiment of black soldiers - seemed like while it was passing. And, here, in this wild military life, each day seldom fails to bring its own pleasures and adventures.”

The diary reads like a verbal painting as Darwina captures the sights and sounds of Midway Station. The area would later become known as Champion Hill.

NOW AVAILABLE!

To order send a check for $20 payable to:

Rebecca Drake

P.O. Box 336

Raymond, MS 39154

601-857-5279

or Email your request to Bookstore@BattleofChampionHill.org

Book Dedication
May 20, 2006

Margie Bearss and Rebecca Drake dedicated their latest book, Darwina’s Diary: A View of Champion Hill ~ 1865. The diary, written during August-September of 1865, relates the experiences of Darwina Loud, young woman who traveled South in 1864 to help in the field of black education. A year after her arrival, she was assigned to the 52nd U. S. Colored Infantry stationed at Midway Station, Mississippi, once a railroad stop located midway between Jackson and Vicksburg and Edwards and Bolton. Darwina loved teaching the ‘slaves turned soldiers’ how to read and write while living in the “swamps and woods of Mississippi - in the lonely camp of a regiment of black soldiers.” The diary reads like a verbal painting as she captured the sights and sounds of Midway Station - an area now known as Champion Hill.

click for more >>>