Existing comment:
A Curious Copybook:
Elizabeth Van Lew used this notebook to practice penmanship as a young girl. The phrase she copied -- "Keep your mouth shut and your eyes and ears open" -- hints at her future double life.
Part of a prominent southern family, Van Lew was troubled by slavery. Living in Richmond, Virginia, the heart of the Confederacy, she built and operated an extensive Union spy ring of free and enslaved people.
Van Lew's copybook, US, ca 1830 |