A Woman's Life-Work — Labors and Experiences of Laura S. Haviland

The author recounts a lifetime of religious conviction and social reform, tracing early spiritual influences and the decision to leave her religious society to pursue practical charity. She describes active involvement in the anti-slavery movement, harboring and guiding fugitive families to freedom and running an educational institute that sheltered students and refugees. Civil War chapters recount hospital and sanitary relief, mission work among freedpeople, organizing schools and aid societies, and founding an orphan home that later became a state public school. The memoir details challenges, threats, bereavements, and organizational efforts to promote education, relief, and long-term prospects for formerly enslaved people.