The Turner Family: Encountering Implicit Bias

Overview

Slavery shaped the fundamental beliefs of white Americans about black people, race, and white supremacy. Like everywhere, people in Vermont viewed (and still view) people of color with an implicit bias that is hard to fully overcome. Black people were generally viewed as second-class citizens. 

After the Civil War, Alec Turner found work in a slate quarry in Maine. But in the spring of 1873 he left that job because his young wife Sally required medical attention in Boston. While in Boston, Alec saw a newspaper ad from a sawmill operation looking for woodchoppers, which turned out to be in Grafton, Vermont. He met with the owner and was hired. When Alec arrived in Grafton in November 1873, followed by Sally and three young children in June 1874, they were at first received somewhat uneasily by townspeople. 

The sources in this lesson illustrate the implicit biases held by white people in Grafton, and demonstrate how they impacted Daisy Turner’s life. Students will first define implicit bias, then look at the 1870 Grafton census and a newspaper brief announcing the arrival of a group of African American woodchoppers in town in 1873 to assess why the ladies of Grafton might have been “alarmed” by their presence. Then students will read or listen to the story Daisy and the Doll and write about how Daisy Turner experienced the shame of being stereotyped but also drew strength from her own inner sense of dignity and self-worth.

Topics

Implicit Bias, Race

Enduring Understanding

Systemic racism is a foundation of American society. Throughout history Black Vermonters have faced bias and discrimination, and this is still true today.

Compelling Questions

How does the Turner family story reveal the workings of implicit bias toward African Americans?

Historical Thinking Skills

Primary Source Analysis; Synthesizing Sources