Includes bibliographical references (pages [229]-277) and index.
Contents:
The Turner narrative and memory -- Meeting Daisy -- African roots -- Jack Gouldin and Robert Berkeley -- Plantation life -- Civil War -- Postwar -- Vermont -- Journey's end -- Daisy's last years -- Appendix. turner family genealogical chart.
Summary:
"A daughter of freed African American slaves, Daisy Turner became a living repository of history. The family narrative entrusted to her-- "a well-polished artifact, an heirloom that had been carefully preserved"-- began among the Yoruba in West Africa and continued with her own long lifetime. In 1983, folklorist Jane Beck began to interview Turner, then one hundred years old and still relating four generations of oral history. In her book Daisy Turner's Kin, Beck uses Turner's storytelling to build the Turner family saga, using at its foundation the oft-repeated touchstone stories at the heart of their experiences: the abduction into slavery of Turner's African ancestors; Daisy's father learning to read; his return as a soldier to his former plantation to kill the overseer; Daisy's childhood stand against racism; and her family's life in Vermont. Beck weaves in historical research and offers a folklorist's perspective on oral history and the hazards and uses of memory." -- Page 4 of cover.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.