From the publisher: In 1916, sixteen-year-old Lucy Saunders, a young black teacher from Orangeburg County, South Carolina, presided over a classroom of sixteen students, aged six to seventeen years old, at the Lower Swannanoa Colored School in Asheville. Lucy Saunder’s early classroom experience marked the beginning of a 52-year career in education. As a teacher, reading specialist, and community and educational leader, her contributions helped transform African-American education in North Carolina, particularly in the western region.