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A literacy test from Alabama (c. 1965) asks complex questions about civics to suppress voter registration and demonstrates the range of questions available to officials.

Recounting a selective portion of an enslaved woman’s life, this brief biography also serves as a reflection of what mainstream society deemed “worthy” during the early to mid-19th century. Precisely because Alice supposedly embodied characteristics that were both exceptional and ordinary, her story offers a useful lens to consider how slavery was understood in its time.