 She attended Russ College for a little bit, but she ended up having to take care of her family because her parents and her brother died in 1878 from yellow fever. So she had several other siblings. She decided to get a job teaching school in order to help support their family. And they ultimately moved to Memphis, Tennessee to be near an aunt, so to be near a new family. And her advocacy story really starts because of a legal battle involving a ticket that she purchased for a train ride.