- A freed woman slave becomes a teacher of young children through the love and compassion of two sisters from a prominent Virginia family. Her perilous experience as a Union spy in the Confederate capitol gives her the self-determination to reach her goal.—Anonymous
- Elizabeth and Eliza Van Lew were sisters in a prominent Richmond, Virginia, family. Unlike their friends and neighbors, they had secretly freed the slaves in their household. They were especially proud of one of them, Mary Richards. She was very intelligent and had a photographic memory. They sent Mary north to school and then to Liberia as a missionary and teacher. Mary returned to Richmond before the Civil War started and lived with the Van Lews. During the War Elizabeth established a spy ring for the Union, the largest during the war, and sent valuable information north. The Van Lews trained Mary for the special mission of being a spy within the home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. She was able to overhear Confederate war plans and read dispatches to and from the President. Eventually she was discovered, but escaped and returned to the Van Lews. Despite her wartime activities, she never lost the desire to teach acquired from the Van Lew sisters. After the war she returned to her beloved teaching and also founded schools in some southern states.
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