Daisy Turner: One Woman’s Amazing Life

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Daisy Turner was born in Grafton in 1883, one of 13 children of Sally
and Alec Turner. The Turners came to Vermont in 1870s, having been
slaves in the south. They established a farm in Grafton and built close
ties there that were maintained during Daisy Turner’s 104 years. Her
stories of a century of living and her family’s lineage in slavery are
preserved by the Vermont Folklife Center. Wednesday
on Vermont Edition, we dig into that archive with Jane Beck, the former
director of the VFC, who is writing a biography of Daisy Turner.

We
hear Daisy’s voice retelling some of the touchstone moments that changed
her life, and that reveal how Turner understood her own identity as the
child of freed slaves and black woman in Vermont. We also learn about plans to preserve the Turner homestead, known as "Journey’s End."

Also
in the program, Saint Michael’s College in Colchester will be
officially designated the first “Fair Trade College” in Vermont. Saint Michael’s is
only the sixth university in the country to get the label, and we talk to
political science professor Jeffrey Ayres about the designation.

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