Alec's Primer (Vermont Folklife Center)

As a young boy born into slavery in Virginia, Alec Turner was forbidden to learn to read. Naturally he was frightened when Zephie, his owner's granddaughter, first offered to teach him, but she told him that if he learned to read, he could become a free man. Mastering the alphabet from a small primer marked the first steps that would eventually lead Alec to freedom on a Vermont farm.