Title: THE KINSHIP OF WAR: Stories of the United States Colored Troops

Author: Jerilyn James Lee

ISBN: 979-8-9915482-0-5

About the Book: Did you know that approximately 200,000 Black men served in the United States Colored Troops in the Civil War between 1863 and 1867? And that another 20,000 served in the U.S. Navy? In her new book, USCT historian Jerilyn James Lee shares the thrilling stories of twenty courageous men and women who served as soldiers, NCO’s, officers, cavalrymen, artillerymen, nurses, and United States sailors during America’s Civil War with accompanying military documentation and photographs. This is American history to be studied and remembered.

About the Author: 

Jerilyn James Lee is a native of Chicago, Illinois and currently resides in Mount Olive, North Carolina. She is an honor graduate of St. Thomas Apostle High School in Chicago, and a Summa Cum Laude graduate of the University of Mount Olive with a B.S. in Business Administration. She also holds a Masters’ Degree from the University of Maryland in Organizational Management, where she taught summer session to the Industrial Laundry Trade Association from 2003-2013 at the University of Maryland Global College.

Jerilyn was employed with UniFirst Corporation for 37 years. She retired in 2012 as Regional Human Resources Manager for the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast Regions. She returned to the workforce in 2014 as Human Resources Director for Wayne County Government and retired again in July of 2019.

Jerilyn previously served on the Board of Directors for the North Carolina Association of Textile Services, and she is a past President of the Wayne County Human Resources Association and the University of Mount Olive Alumni Association. Jerilyn currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the University of Mount Olive. She is a 2019 recipient of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, which is the highest award for service in the State of North Carolina, conferred expressly by the Governor.

Jerilyn is active with the Civil War community as a historian and speaker, and she is creator of the Facebook page “Stories of the United States Colored Troops” with a following of 8,000+ members. She and her husband Kenneth Lee have three children, four grandchildren, and one great granddaughter.