a Bennington Historical Society presentation

Vermont folklorist Jane Beck shares the story of the Turner family, a multigenerational saga spanning two centuries, played out across three continents. The saga was related to Jane Beck by Daisy Turner, who had listened to her father, Alec Turner, recount stories of the family past. Her captivating narrative covers the early 19th century British-African trade, shipwreck, birth of a biracial child, slave trading, enslavement, plantation life, escape, Civil War, moving north, battling racism, buying land and settling on a hilltop in Vermont that became a family center. Daisy also shared her own life story, a powerful and rare account of the African American experience in New England from the 1880s forward.

Jane Beck founded the Vermont Folklife Center in 1983 and served as its executive director until 2007. During that time, she traveled the back roads of Vermont recording oral interviews of everyday Vermonters, and produced a variety of media productions, exhibitions, and publications. In retirement, she has completed a book, Daisy Turner’s Kin, an African American Family Saga, based on sixty interviews with the daughter of slaves.

The Bennington Historical Society is a volunteer-run program of Bennington Museum. The BHS offers its programs at no charge with support from Nexus Consulting. You can support the efforts of the BHS to share the history of our region by making a donation.

Daisy Turner’s Kin is a Vermont Humanities Council program hosted by Bennington Historical Society. (Supported in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the NEH or VHC.)