--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Writing 'Native Guard,' I didn't know I…" description: "\"Writing 'Native Guard,' I didn't know I was working on a single book. I began writing that book because I was interested in the lesser-known history of..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ee/natasha-trethewey-7684_because_writing-native-guard-i-didn-t-know-i-was_1299347.jpg" --- # Writing 'Native Guard,' I didn't know I was working on a… ![“Writing 'Native Guard,' I didn't know I was working on a single book. I began writing that book because I was interested in the lesser-known history of these black soldiers stationed off the coast of my hometown.” quote by Natasha Trethewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ee/natasha-trethewey-7684_because_writing-native-guard-i-didn-t-know-i-was_1299347.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ee/natasha-trethewey-7684_because_writing-native-guard-i-didn-t-know-i-was_1299347.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ee/natasha-trethewey-7684_because_writing-native-guard-i-didn-t-know-i-was_1299347.jpg) > “Writing 'Native Guard,' I didn't know I was working on a single book. I began writing that book because I was interested in the lesser-known history of these black soldiers stationed off the coast of my hometown.” [Natasha Trethewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-trethewey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author discovers a larger narrative while researching a specific, overlooked history of Black soldiers. **In simple terms:** Research revealed a broader story about forgotten soldiers. Key Takeaway Seek hidden histories in focused projects. Themes history memory identity race military research Mood reflective inspired Type historical literary When to use this quote - academic research - creative nonfiction - public history - education Key Concepts archival study narrative expansion cultural preservation Questions to Reflect On - What overlooked stories could your work uncover? - How does expanding focus change your perspective? A Different Perspective Focusing narrowly may miss broader connections. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Hometown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hometown/) [Soldiers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soldiers/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Writing that's native to the web is different in ways that are crucial but subtle enough that you can miss them if you conceive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-weisberg/writing-that-s-native-to-the-web-is-different-in-ways-that-are/) [Jacob Weisberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-weisberg/) > [I used to come out here every Fourth of July as a child to picnic and to swim on the island, to tour the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-trethewey/i-used-to-come-out-here-every-fourth-of-july-as-a-child-to-picnic-and/) [Natasha Trethewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-trethewey/) > [“The fact remains that women and children were left vulnerable to sickness and disease, manipulative slaveholders, and even apathetic Union officers during the Civil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-downs/the-fact-remains-that-women-and-children-were-left-vulnerable-to/) Jim Downs > [“With boarding passes in hand Adeline led her children, each carrying a small suitcase, up the long gangway onto the Dominion Monarch, which would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/captain-hank-bracker-suppresed-i-rise/with-boarding-passes-in-hand-adeline-led-her-children-each-carrying-a/) [Captain Hank Bracker, "Suppresed I Rise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/captain-hank-bracker-suppresed-i-rise/) > [I did this whole series on the buffalo soldiers-on black soldiers-I did another series on black cowboys, and I presented myself to the gallery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-dwight/i-did-this-whole-series-on-the-buffalo-soldiers-on-black-soldiers-i/) [Ed Dwight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-dwight/) > [I was sometimes jeered by black soldiers who wanted me to sing something besides country music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charley-pride/i-was-sometimes-jeered-by-black-soldiers-who-wanted-me-to-sing/) [Charley Pride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charley-pride/) > [“Two months after marching through Boston, half the regiment was dead; at the dedication, William James could almost hear the bronze Negroes breathe. Their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lowell/two-months-after-marching-through-boston-half-the-regiment-was-dead/) [Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/) > [“Thousands of brave black soldiers were dead for no other crime than that of refusing to be slaves once more. The colony was devastated,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clr-james/thousands-of-brave-black-soldiers-were-dead-for-no-other-crime-than/) CLR James > [During 1866 and 1922, Native Americans and black soldiers often intermingled in the American west, on the frontier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kareem-abdul-jabbar/during-1866-and-1922-native-americans-and-black-soldiers-often/) [Kareem Abdul-Jabbar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kareem-abdul-jabbar/) > [I know that my tendency is to be linear, and I'm trying to find ways to subvert that. 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When I first began writing, I used to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-enjoy-what-i-do-every-minute-of-the-day-even-when-the-going-gets/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [As a graduate student at Oxford in 1963, I began writing about books in revolutionary France, helping to found the discipline of book history.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-darnton/as-a-graduate-student-at-oxford-in-1963-i-began-writing-about-books/) [Robert Darnton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-darnton/) > [I began writing seriously in my mid-20s and didn't publish my first book until I was 41.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-haruf/i-began-writing-seriously-in-my-mid-20s-and-didn-t-publish-my-first/) [Kent Haruf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-haruf/) > [I began writing early - very, very early... I was already writing short stories for the radio and selling poems to poetry and art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/i-began-writing-early-very-very-early-i-was-already-writing-short/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) ## More by Natasha Trethewey > [I was always very aware of the nature of the place where I was growing up in Gulfport, Mississippi, how that place was shaping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-trethewey/i-was-always-very-aware-of-the-nature-of-the-place-where-i-was/) [Natasha Trethewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-trethewey/) > [My own journey in becoming a poet began with memory - with the need to record and hold on to what was being lost.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-trethewey/my-own-journey-in-becoming-a-poet-began-with-memory-with-the-need-to/) [Natasha Trethewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-trethewey/) > [“the little fires set the flames of an idea licking the page how knowledge burns”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-trethewey/the-little-fires-set-the-flames-of-an-idea-licking-the-page-how/) [Natasha Trethewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-trethewey/) > [I think there is a poem out there for everyone, to be an entrance into the poetry and a relationship with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-trethewey/i-think-there-is-a-poem-out-there-for-everyone-to-be-an-entrance-into/) [Natasha Trethewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-trethewey/) > [When I write notes in my journal, I'm just trying to scribble down as much as possible. 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I began writing that book because I was interested in the lesser-known history of these black soldiers stationed off the coast of my hometown.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Natasha Trethewey" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-trethewey/writing-native-guard-i-didn-t-know-i-was-working-on-a-single-book-i/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Because" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-trethewey/writing-native-guard-i-didn-t-know-i-was-working-on-a-single-book-i/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ee/natasha-trethewey-7684_because_writing-native-guard-i-didn-t-know-i-was_1299347.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ee/natasha-trethewey-7684_because_writing-native-guard-i-didn-t-know-i-was_1299347.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ee/natasha-trethewey-7684_because_writing-native-guard-i-didn-t-know-i-was_1299347.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Writing 'Native Guard,' I didn't know I was working on a single book. 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