It was just a simple family photograph from 1872, but take a closer look at the sister’s hand.

At first, she classifies the picture as a “simple” family portrait from 1872. Nothing indicates the name or address of this African American family. But something in their gazes disturbs her: a quiet strength, as if each individual, from the father to the youngest child, possessed far more than just a static pose.

A child’s hand that tells a different story

A few weeks later, Sarah picked up the photo again with a high-resolution scanner. She enlarged every detail: the fabrics, the hairstyles, the poses. Then she focused on the little girl in the middle, about eight years old. Her hand rested on her dark dress.

And then she saw what no one had noticed before: deep, old, circular scars around her wrist. Not a single scar, but an entire ring of scarred skin.

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