Daisy Turner was born in Grafton on this day in 1883. Her parents had been slaves, and Daisy grew up listening to stories about slavery, war and freedom.

When she was eight, her teacher gave each student a doll and a poem to recite. Daisy, proud of her heritage but furious over her black doll and a poem about Africa, told her own poem, pouring out her anger and telling her doll to stand tall. She won first place.

At sixteen, she went to Boston, confronted and collected from a man who had cheated money from her father. Daisy lived in Grafton until her death, just shy of her 105th birthday.

Image courtesy the Vermont Folklife Center in Middlebury.