New Book Series Involves Kids in Family History

Daisy Turner, middle daughter in a family of 13 children of former slaves, was 8 years old in 1891 when her teacher gave her a black doll.

Along with the doll came a request that, for an end-of-the-year Grafton village gathering, she and her classmates read poems about the countries of the world.

The best speaker would get a prize.

But Daisy was miffed. Her classmates all had white dolls, and her dolls at home had white faces too. On top of that, she was to go last of all the speakers.

When Daisy’s turn to recite finally came, she forgot the poem she’d been given and spoke from the heart:

“You needn’t crowd my dollie out,

“Although she’s black as night.

“And if she is at the end of the show,

“I think she’ll stand as good a chance

“As the dollies that are white.”

Daisy won the contest.

Now everyone can read Daisy’s story in a new children’s book published by the Vermont Folklife Center.

Many times in the years before her death in 1988 at age 104, Daisy told the story of the doll and the poem to Folklife Center Executive Director Jane Beck.

“Over the period of 10 years, it was almost word for word the same,” Beck said of Daisy’s story. “It was like a polished artifact.”

“Daisy and the Doll” was one of the first two books published by the Folklife Center for its Family Heritage Series.

Beck conceived of the series after watching the center’s archived collection of stories grow. She saw it as a way to get children actively involved in their family’s history.

“My feeling always has been: Here we are out talking with people and collecting marvelous family stories,” Beck said. “This is something I felt kids would enjoy. Five- and 6-year-olds don’t come into the Folklife Center and use the archives.”

And the books get children interested in the stories their grandparents tell.

“The books, I think, inspire the possibility of a bonding experience between older relatives and children,” said series editor William Jaspersohn. “You don’t have to go to Disney World to bond with your kids. You can do this over a family photo album.”

Along with “Daisy and the Doll,” the Folklife Center in September published “The Two Brothers,” the story of German brothers who immigrated separately to America and unknowingly ended up working on adjacent Vermont farms. “It’s very simple, yet it’s very powerful,” said Jaspersohn, who researched and wrote “The Two Brothers.” “What I love about this is that you couldn’t make a story like that up.”

The Folklife Center was founded in 1984 to preserve the folk arts and cultural traditions of Vermont and the surrounding states. It uses exhibits and educational projects to keep the past and its traditions alive and has more than 3,000 taped interviews in its archives.

Beck plans to publish two books each year. Initially, they will be based on Vermont stories, but she and Jaspersohn hope to eventually use stories collected from other regions.