THE PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF Mrs. Margaret Douglass, A SOUTHERN WOMAN, WHO WAS IMPRISONED FOR ONE MONTH IN THE COMMON JAIL OF NORFOLK, UNDER THE LAWS OF VIRGINIA, FOR THE CRIME OF TEACHING FREE COLORED CHILDREN TO READ. “Search the Scriptures!” “How can one read unless he be taught?” Holy Bible. BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY JOHN P. JEWETT & CO. CLEVELAND, OHIO: JEWETT, PROCTOR & WORTHINGTON. 1854. 1854....

I am perfectly aware that the public cannot be interested in my personal history previous to the occurrences which this narrative is designed to lay before them, nor am I vain enough to suppose that there would be any thing in it worth relating. It will, however, be seen necessary that I should state who and what I was, and under what circumstances I found myself suddenly placed, by the authorities of the city of Norfolk, in a position of such unenviable notoriety. This position was not one of m