Turner Family Stories
Turner Family Stories
From Enslavement in Virginia to Freedom in Vermont
EDITED BY: Jane Beck and Andy Kolovos
COMICS BY: Marek Bennett, Francis Bordeleau, Lillie Harris, Joel Christian Gill & Ezra Veitch.
FOREWORD: Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina
INTRODUCTION: Julian Chambliss
PREFACE: Jane Beck
COVER: Robyn Smith
Order Online From:
Or
More about Turner Family Stories
Daisy Turner, born in Grafton, VT in 1883, was the daughter of formerly enslaved Alec and Sally Turner, who settled there in the years following the Civil War. In 1983 VFC founder Jane Beck met then 100-year-old Daisy and worked with her to record approximately 60 hours of interviews through which Daisy recounted the saga of several generations of her family.
Beginning in West Africa, Daisy's account follows her ancestors from abduction on the African coast to enslavement on a Virginia plantation; her father's experiences growing up enslaved; his escape during the Civil War, joining up with the First NJ Cavalry; his post-war experiences in the south and New England; his eventual arrival in Grafton, and purchase of the family homestead, "Journey's End."
In addition to stories of her father's family, Daisy shared with Jane rich accounts of her own long life, from her childhood in Grafton, her adult years living and working in Boston, and her eventual return to Grafton after her mother's death in 1933. Beginning in her childhood, Daisy continually—and successfully—challenged the limits placed on her as a Black woman in New England during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, loudly asserting (even in court) her rights and the rights of her family members.
Working with six New England cartoonists Turner Family Stories presents two of Daisy's accounts from the life of her father, Alec Turner, by Marek Bennett and Joel Christian Gill, and two stories from Daisy's own life by Francis Bordeleau and Lilllie Harris. The comics adapted from Daisy's interviews are linked together through a story by Grafton native Ezra Veitch, based on a childhood encounter he and a friend had with Daisy one afternoon. Center for Cartoon Studies graduate Robyn Smith drew the volume's cover. The book also features a Foreword by Gretchen Gerzina, Introduction by Julian Chambliss and a Preface by Jane Beck.
Samples from the book:
Meet the Cartoonists:
Press:
Seven Days, Dan Bolles & Ezra Veitch: “The Storyteller's Spell: Vermont Folklife Center to Publish 'Turner Family Stories.'“ June 30, 2021