Marlene Rivero to present story of escaped slave turned Naval nurse

Marlene Rivero will bring the incredible story of an escaped slave who became a nurse aboard a Union hospital ship during the Civil War to the Carbondale Public Library Feb. 23.

Rivero's presentation, to begin at 1 p.m., will focus on Ann Stokes, who was born a Tennessee slave in the early 1830s, escaped slavery in 1862 and worked on the U.S.S. Red Rover as a dishwasher, laundress and nurse. She was the first woman to receive her U.S. Navy pension for her service after settling in southern Illinois.

Rivero is a living history actor who began her storytelling career in 1999 as a first-person heritage interpreter with the U.S. Forestry Service.

Visit carbondalepublic library.org for more.