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The Story Behind Ashley's Sack

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An antique, stained, agricultural sack embroidered with the story of Ashley, an enslaved 9-year-old who was given the sack by her mother, Rose, has captured countless imaginations, including that of local scholar and historian Tiya Miles.

In her new book, "All That She Carried," Miles uses the sack to thread together Rose and Ashley's history, and that of other enslaved women, while underscoring how little of their history we can know. To discuss her new book, we're joined by Tiya Miles, a history professor and Radcliffe Alumnae Professor at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard.

This segment aired on June 15, 2021.

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