CHINESE YANKEE by Ruthanne Lum McCunn book reading

November 25, 2014
San Francisco Public Main Library
6:30 PM Latino Hispanic Community Room
Info here >>

An orphan brought to America for schooling in the mid-1850s, Thomas Sylvanus (Ah Yee Way) was enslaved in Baltimore. Only 16 at the outbreak of war, he ran north, joined the Freedom Army, and was blinded in the first major campaign. He failed to fully recover his sight and, deemed incapable of performing the duties of a soldier, was discharged. Yet he reenlisted twice, saved his regiment’s colors during the bloodbath of Spotsylvania, was lamed at Cold Harbor, and survived 9 months imprisonment in the dreaded Andersonville stockade. His health broken, but his spirit intact, he battled for survival and justice for his family and himself until his death in 1891. He was, as the New York Times noted, “singular.”

CHSA is proud to co-sponsor this book event.