Suggs, Eliza

Eliza Suggs, b. 1876 According to her 1906 narrative, Shadow and Sunshine, Eliza Suggs was born December 11, 1876, in Bureau County, Illinois, near the town of Providence. The 1880 U.S. Census validates Suggs's date and state of birth, but the rest of what is known about her existence comes from her own account. The last of eight children born to former slaves James and Melinda Suggs, Eliza suffered from what she describes as "an extreme case of the ricketsThis disease prevented her from walking, made her bones extremely brittle, and stunted her growth. As an adult, her weight was only "about