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diff --git a/old/13847.txt b/old/13847.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6fdfffc --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13847.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1427 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Slave Narratives, Administrative Files +(A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with +Former Slaves), by Work Projects Administration + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Slave Narratives, Administrative Files (A Folk History of + Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves) + +Author: Work Projects Administration + +Release Date: October 25, 2004 [EBook #13847] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SLAVE NARRATIVES *** + + + + +Produced by Andrea Ball and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team, +from images provided by the Library of Congress, Manuscript Division. + + + + + + + + +SLAVE NARRATIVES + +A Folk History of Slavery in the United States +From Interviews with Former Slaves + + +TYPEWRITTEN RECORDS PREPARED BY +THE FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +1936-1938 +ASSEMBLED BY +THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PROJECT +WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION +FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA +SPONSORED BY THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS + + +WASHINGTON 1941 + + + + +FEDERAL WORKS AGENCY +WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION +FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA + + +Paul Edwards, Administrator +Amelie S. Fair, Director, Division of Community Service Programs +Mary Nan Gamble, Chief, Public Activities Programs + + +THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PROJECT +Official Project No. 165-2-26-7 +Work Project No. 540 + + +Mary Nan Gamble, Acting Project Supervisor +Francesco M. Bianco, Assistant Project Supervisor +B.A. Botkin, Chief Editor, Writers' Unit + + + +[Transcriber's Note: The CONTENTS section that follows lists the collection +of Slave Narratives; the SELECTED RECORDS listing after the INTRODUCTION lists +the nine Administrative Files included in this volume. An identifier has +been added to the beginning of each of these Files.] + + + + +CONTENTS + + + I. ALABAMA + + II. ARKANSAS + + III. FLORIDA + + IV. GEORGIA + + V. INDIANA + + VI. KANSAS + + VII. KENTUCKY + +VIII. MARYLAND + + IX. MISSISSIPPI + + X. MISSOURI + + XI. NORTH CAROLINA + + XII. OHIO + +XIII. OKLAHOMA + + XIV. SOUTH CAROLINA + + XV. TENNESSEE + + XVI. TEXAS + +XVII. VIRGINIA + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +I + +This collection of slave narratives had its beginning in the second year +of the former Federal Writers' Project (now the Writers' Program), 1936, +when several state Writers' Projects--notably those of Florida, Georgia, +and South Carolina--recorded interviews with ex-slaves residing in those +states. On April 22, 1937, a standard questionnaire for field workers +drawn up by John A. Lomax, then National Advisor on Folklore and +Folkways for the Federal Writers' Project[1], was issued from Washington +as "Supplementary Instructions #9-E to The American Guide Manual" +(appended below). Also associated with the direction and criticism of +the work in the Washington office of the Federal Writers' Project were +Henry G. Alsberg, Director; George Cronyn, Associate Director; Sterling +A. Brown, Editor on Negro Affairs; Mary Lloyd, Editor; and B.A. Botkin, +Folklore Editor succeeding Mr. Lomax.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Mr. Lomax served from June 25, 1936, to October 23, 1937, +with a ninety-day furlough beginning July 24, 1937. According to a +memorandum written by Mr. Alsberg on March 23, 1937, Mr. Lomax was "in +charge of the collection of folklore all over the United States for the +Writers' Project. In connection with this work he is making recordings +of Negro songs and cowboy ballads. Though technically on the payroll of +the Survey of Historical Records, his work is done for the Writers and +the results will make several national volumes of folklore. The essays +in the State Guides devoted to folklore are also under his supervision." +Since 1933 Mr. Lomax has been Honorary Curator of the Archive of +American Folk Song, Library of Congress.] + +[Footnote 2: Folklore Consultant, from May 2 to July 31, 1938; Folklore +Editor, from August 1, 1938, to August 31, 1939.] + +On August 31, 1939, the Federal Writers' Project became the Writers' +Program, and the National Technical Project in Washington was +terminated. On October 17, the first Library of Congress Project, under +the sponsorship of the Library of Congress, was set up by the Work +Projects Administration in the District of Columbia, to continue some of +the functions of the National Technical Project, chiefly those concerned +with books of a regional or nationwide scope. On February 12, 1940, the +project was reorganized along strictly conservation lines, and on August +16 it was succeeded by the present Library of Congress Project (Official +Project No. 165-2-26-7, Work Project No. 540). + +The present Library of Congress Project, under the sponsorship of the +Library of Congress, is a unit of the Public Activities Program of the +Community Service Programs of the Work Projects Administration for the +District of Columbia. According to the Project Proposal (WPA Form 301), +the purpose of the Project is to "collect, check, edit, index, and +otherwise prepare for use WPA records, Professional and Service +Projects." + +The Writers' Unit of the Library of Congress Project processes material +left over from or not needed for publication by the state Writers' +Projects. On file in the Washington office in August, 1939, was a large +body of slave narratives, photographs of former slaves, interviews with +white informants regarding slavery, transcripts of laws, advertisements, +records of sale, transfer, and manumission of slaves, and other +documents. As unpublished manuscripts of the Federal Writers' Project +these records passed into the hands of the Library of Congress Project +for processing; and from them has been assembled the present collection +of some two thousand narratives from the following seventeen states: +Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, +Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South +Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia[1]. + +[Footnote 1: The bulk of the Virginia narratives is still in the state +office. Excerpts from these are included in _The Negro in Virginia_, +compiled by Workers of the Writers' Program of the Work Projects +Administration in the State of Virginia, Sponsored by the Hampton +Institute, Hastings House, Publishers, New York, 1940. Other slave +narratives are published in _Drums and Shadows_, Survival Studies among +the Georgia Coastal Negroes, Savannah Unit, Georgia Writers' Project, +Work Projects Administration, University of Georgia Press, 1940. A +composite article, "Slaves," based on excerpts from three interviews, +was contributed by Elizabeth Lomax to the _American Stuff_ issue of +_Direction_, Vol. 1, No. 3, 1935.] + +The work of the Writers' Unit in preparing the narratives for deposit in +the Library of Congress consisted principally of arranging the +manuscripts and photographs by states and alphabetically by informants +within the states, listing the informants and illustrations, and +collating the contents in seventeen volumes divided into thirty-three +parts. The following material has been omitted: Most of the interviews +with informants born too late to remember anything of significance +regarding slavery or concerned chiefly with folklore; a few negligible +fragments and unidentified manuscripts; a group of Tennessee interviews +showing evidence of plagiarism; and the supplementary material gathered +in connection with the narratives. In the course of the preparation of +these volumes, the Writers' Unit compiled data for an essay on the +narratives and partially completed an index and a glossary. Enough +additional material is being received from the state Writers' Projects, +as part of their surplus, to make a supplement, which, it is hoped, will +contain several states not here represented, such as Louisiana. + +All editing had previously been done in the states or the Washington +office. Some of the pencilled comments have been identified as those of +John A. Lomax and Alan Lomax, who also read the manuscripts. In a few +cases, two drafts or versions of the same interview have been included +for comparison of interesting variations or alterations. + + +II + +Set beside the work of formal historians, social scientists, and +novelists, slave autobiographies, and contemporary records of +abolitionists and planters, these life histories, taken down as far as +possible in the narrators' words, constitute an invaluable body of +unconscious evidence or indirect source material, which scholars and +writers dealing with the South, especially social psychologists and +cultural anthropologists, cannot afford to reckon without. For the first +and the last time, a large number of surviving slaves (many of whom have +since died) have been permitted to tell their own story, in their own +way. In spite of obvious limitations--bias and fallibility of both +informants and interviewers, the use of leading questions, unskilled +techniques, and insufficient controls and checks--this saga must remain +the most authentic and colorful source of our knowledge of the lives and +thoughts of thousands of slaves, of their attitudes toward one another, +toward their masters, mistresses, and overseers, toward poor whites, +North and South, the Civil War, Emancipation, Reconstruction, religion, +education, and virtually every phase of Negro life in the South. + +The narratives belong to folk history--history recovered from the +memories and lips of participants or eye-witnesses, who mingle group +with individual experience and both with observation, hearsay, and +tradition. Whether the narrators relate what they actually saw and +thought and felt, what they imagine, or what they have thought and felt +about slavery since, now we know _why_ they thought and felt as they +did. To the white myth of slavery must be added the slaves' own folklore +and folk-say of slavery. The patterns they reveal are folk and regional +patterns--the patterns of field hand, house and body servant, and +artisan; the patterns of kind and cruel master or mistress; the patterns +of Southeast and Southwest, lowland and upland, tidewater and inland, +smaller and larger plantations, and racial mixture (including Creole and +Indian). + +The narratives belong also to folk literature. Rich not only in folk +songs, folk tales, and folk speech but also in folk humor and poetry, +crude or skilful in dialect, uneven in tone and treatment, they +constantly reward one with earthy imagery, salty phrase, and sensitive +detail. In their unconscious art, exhibited in many a fine and powerful +short story, they are a contribution to the realistic writing of the +Negro. Beneath all the surface contradictions and exaggerations, the +fantasy and flattery, they possess an essential truth and humanity which +surpasses as it supplements history and literature. + +Washington, D.C. +June 12, 1941 + +B.A. Botkin +Chief Editor, Writers' Unit +Library of Congress Project + + + + +SELECTED RECORDS +Bearing on the History of the Slave Narratives + +From the correspondence and memoranda files of the Washington office of +the Federal Writers' Project the following instructions and criticisms +relative to the slave narrative collection, issued from April 1 to +September 8, 1937, have been selected. They throw light on the progress +of the work, the development of materials and methods, and some of the +problems encountered. + +1. Copy of Memorandum from George Cronyn to Mrs. Eudora R. Richardson. +April 1, 1937. + +2. Autograph Memorandum from John A. Lomax to George Cronyn. April 9, +1937. + +3. Copy of Memorandum from George Cronyn to Edwin Bjorkman, enclosing a +Memorandum from John A. Lomax on "Negro Dialect Suggestions." April 14, +1937. + +4. Mimeographed "Supplementary Instructions #9-E to the American Guide +Manual. Folklore. Stories from Ex-Slaves." April 22, 1937. Prepared by +John A. Lomax. + +5. Copy of Memorandum from George Cronyn to Edwin Bjorkman. May 3, 1937. + +6. Copy of Memorandum from Henry G. Alsberg to State Directors of the +Federal Writers' Project. June 9, 1937. + +7. Copy of "Notes by an Editor on Dialect Usage in Accounts by +Interviews with Ex-Slaves." June 20, 1937. Prepared by Sterling A. +Brown. + +8. Copy of Memorandum from Henry G. Alsberg to State Directors of the +Federal Writers' Project. July 30, 1937. + +9. Copy of Memorandum from Henry G. Alsberg to State Directors of the +Federal Writers' Project. September 8, 1937. + + + + +[Document 1] + +Sent to: NORTH & SOUTH CAROLINA, GEORGIA, ALABAMA, + LOUISIANA, TEXAS, ARKANSAS, TENNESSEE, + KENTUCKY, MISSOURI, MISSISSIPPI, OKLA. + +April 1, 1937 + +Mrs. Eudora R. Richardson, Acting State Director +Federal Writers' Project, WPA +Rooms 321-4, American Bank Building +Richmond, Virginia + +Subj: Folklore + + +Dear Mrs. Richardson: + +We have received from Florida a remarkably interesting collection of +autobiographical stories by ex-slaves. Such documentary records by the +survivors of a historic period in America are invaluable, both to the +student of history and to creative writers. + +If a volume of such importance can be assembled we will endeavor to +secure its publication. There undoubtedly is material of this sort to be +found in your State by making the proper contact through tactful +interviewers. While it is desirable to give a running story of the life +of each subject, the color and human interest will be greatly enhanced +if it is told largely in the words of the person interviewed. The +peculiar idiom is often more expressive than a literary account. + +We shall be very glad to know if you have undertaken any research of +this sort, or plan to do so. + +Very truly yours, +George Cronyn +Associate Director +Federal Writers' Project + +GWCronyn/a + + + + +[Document 2] +(Transcript of Preceding Autograph Memorandum) +[Transcriber's Note: The handwritten version is included in the original +volume.] + +4/9/37 + +Mr. Cronyn: + +In replying to this letter I should like for you to commend especially +two stories: + +1. _Lula Flannigan_ by Sarah H. Hall Athens, Ga. + +2. _Uncle Willis_, Miss Velma Bell, Supervisor, Athens, Ga. + +All the stories are worth while but these two are mainly (one entirely) +in dialect and abound in human interest touches. _All the interviewers +should copy the Negro expressions_. + +I much prefer to read _un_edited (but typed) "interviews," and I should +like to see as soon as possible all the seventy-five to which Miss +Dillard refers. + +It is most important, too, to secure copies of "slave codes, overseers +codes and the like." This item is new and all the states should send in +similar material. + +Yours, +John A. Lomax + + + + +[Document 3] + +Sent to: North and South Carolina, Georgia, + Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, + Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, + Mississippi, Oklahoma. + +April 14, 1937 + +Mr. Edwin Bjorkman +State Director, Federal Writers' Project +Works Progress Administration +City Hall, Fifth Floor +Asheville, North Carolina + +Dear Mr. Bjorkman: + +We have received more stories of ex-slaves and are gratified by the +quality and interest of the narratives. Some of these stories have been +accompanied by photographs of the subjects. We would like to have +portraits wherever they can be secured, but we urge your photographers +to make the studies as simple, natural, and "unposed" as possible. Let +the background, cabin or whatnot, be the normal setting--in short, just +the picture a visitor would expect to find by "dropping in" on one of +these old-timers. + +Enclosed is a memorandum of Mr. Lomax with suggestions for simplifying +the spelling of certain recurring dialect words. This does not mean that +the interviews should be entirely in "straight English"--simply, that we +want them to be more readable to those uninitiated in the broadest Negro +speech. + +Very truly yours, + +George Cronyn +Associate Director +Federal Writers' Project + +GWCronyn:MEB + + +This paragraph was added to the letter to Arkansas. + +Mr. Lomax is very eager to get such records as you mention: Court +Records of Sale, Transfer, and Freeing of Slaves, as well as prices +paid. + + + + +Negro Dialect Suggestions +(Stories of Ex-Slaves) + +Do not write: + +_Ah_ for I + +_Poe_ for po' (poor) + +_Hit_ for it + +_Tuh_ for to + +_Wuz_ for was + +_Baid_ for bed + +_Daid_ for dead + +_Ouh_ for our + +_Mah_ for my + +_Ovah_ for over + +_Othuh_ for other + +_Wha_ for whar (where) + +_Undah_ for under + +_Fuh_ for for + +_Yondah_ for yonder + +_Moster_ for marster or massa + +_Gwainter_ for gwineter (going to) + +_Oman_ for woman + +_Ifn_ for iffen (if) + +_Fiuh_ or _fiah_ for fire + +_Uz_ or _uv_ or _o'_ for of + +_Poar_ for poor or po' + +_J'in_ for jine + +_Coase_ for cose + +_Utha_ for other + +_Yo'_ for you + +_Gi'_ for give + +_Cot_ for caught + +_Kin'_ for kind + +_Cose_ for 'cause + +_Tho't_ for thought + + + + +[Document 4] + +WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION +Federal Writers' Project +1500 Eye St. N.W. +Washington, D.C. + +SUPPLEMENTARY INSTRUCTIONS #9-E +To +THE AMERICAN GUIDE MANUAL + +FOLKLORE +STORIES FROM EX-SLAVES + + Note: In some states it may be possible to locate only a very + few ex-slaves, but an attempt should be made in every state. + Interesting ex-slave data has recently been reported from Rhode + Island, for instance. + +April 22, 1937 + + +STORIES FROM EX-SLAVES + +The main purpose of these detailed and homely questions is to get the +Negro interested in talking about the days of slavery. If he will talk +freely, he should be encouraged to say what he pleases without reference +to the questions. It should be remembered that the Federal Writers' +Project is not interested in taking sides on any question. The worker +should not censor any material collected, regardless of its nature. + +It will not be necessary, indeed it will probably be a mistake, to ask +every person all of the questions. Any incidents or facts he can recall +should be written down as nearly as possible just as he says them, but +do not use dialect spelling so complicated that it may confuse the +reader. + +A second visit, a few days after the first one, is important, so that +the worker may gather all the worthwhile recollections that the first +talk has aroused. + + +Questions: + +1. Where and when were you born? + +2. Give the names of your father and mother. Where did they come from? +Give names of your brothers and sisters. Tell about your life with them +and describe your home and the "quarters." Describe the beds and where +you slept. Do you remember anything about your grandparents or any +stories told you about them? + +3. What work did you do in slavery days? Did you ever earn any money? +How? What did you buy with this money? + +4. What did you eat and how was it cooked? Any possums? Rabbits? Fish? +What food did you like best? Did the slaves have their own gardens? + +5. What clothing did you wear in hot weather? Cold weather? On Sundays? +Any shoes? Describe your wedding clothes. + +6. Tell about your master, mistress, their children, the house they +lived in, the overseer or driver, poor white neighbors. + +7. How many acres in the plantation? How many slaves on it? How and at +what time did the overseer wake up the slaves? Did they work hard and +late at night? How and for what causes were the slaves punished? Tell +what you saw. Tell some of the stories you heard. + +8. Was there a jail for slaves? Did you ever see any slaves sold or +auctioned off? How did groups of slaves travel? Did you ever see slaves +in chains? + +9. Did the white folks help you to learn to read and write? + +10. Did the slaves have a church on your plantation? Did they read the +Bible? Who was your favorite preacher? Your favorite spirituals? Tell +about the baptizing; baptizing songs. Funerals and funeral songs. + +11. Did the slaves ever run away to the North? Why? What did you hear +about patrollers? How did slaves carry news from one plantation to +another? Did you hear of trouble between the blacks and whites? + +12. What did the slaves do when they went to their quarters after the +day's work was done on the plantation? Did they work on Saturday +afternoons? What did they do Saturday nights? Sundays? Christmas +morning? New Year's Day? Any other holidays? Cornshucking? Cotton +Picking? Dances? When some of the white master's family married or died? +A wedding or death among the slaves? + +13. What games did you play as a child? Can you give the words or sing +any of the play songs or ring games of the children? Riddles? Charms? +Stories about "Raw Head and Bloody Bones" or other "hants" of ghosts? +Stories about animals? What do you think of voodoo? Can you give the +words or sing any lullabies? Work songs? Plantation hollers? Can you +tell a funny story you have heard or something funny that happened to +you? Tell about the ghosts you have seen. + +14. When slaves became sick who looked after them? What medicines did +tho doctors give them? What medicine (herbs, leaves, or roots) did the +slaves use for sickness? What charms did they wear and to keep off what +diseases? + +15. What do you remember about the war that brought your freedom? What +happened on the day news came that you were free? What did your master +say and do? When the Yankees came what did they do and say? + +16. Tell what work you did and how you lived the first year after the +war and what you saw or heard about the KuKlux Klan and the Nightriders. +Any school then for Negroes? Any land? + +17. Whom did you marry? Describe the wedding. How many children and +grandchildren have you and what are they doing? + +18. What do you think of Abraham Lincoln? Jefferson Davis? Booker +Washington? Any other prominent white man or Negro you have known or +heard of? + +19. Now that slavery is ended what do you think of it? Tell why you +joined a church and why you think all people should be religious. + +20. Was the overseer "poor white trash"? What were some of his rules? + +The details of the interview should be reported as accurately as +possible in the language of the original statements. An example of +material collected through one of the interviews with ex-slaves is +attached herewith. Although this material was collected before the +standard questionnaire had been prepared, it represents an excellent +method of reporting an interview. More information might have been +obtained however, if a comprehensive questionnaire had been used. + + + + +Sample Interview From Georgia + +LULA FLANNIGAN +Ex-slave, 78 years. + + +"Dey says I wuz jes fo' years ole when de war wuz over, but I sho' does +member dat day dem Yankee sojers come down de road. Mary and Willie +Durham wuz my mammy and pappy, en dey belong ter Marse Spence Durham at +Watkinsville in slav'ry times." + +"When word cum dat de Yankee sojers wuz on de way, Marse Spence en his +sons wuz 'way at de war. Miss Betsey tole my pappy ter take en hide de +hosses down in de swamp. My mammy help Miss Betsey sew up de silver in +de cotton bed ticks. Dem Yankee sojers nebber did find our whitefolks' +hosses and deir silver." + +"Miss Marzee, she wuz Marse Spence en Miss Betsey's daughter. She wuz +playin' on de pianny when de Yankee sojers come down de road. Two sojers +cum in de house en ax her fer ter play er tune dat dey liked. I fergits +de name er dey tune. Miss Marzee gits up fum de pianny en she low dat +she ain' gwine play no tune for' no Yankee mens. Den de sojers takes her +out en set her up on top er de high gate post in front er de big house, +en mek her set dar twel de whole regiment pass by. She set dar en cry, +but she sho' ain' nebber played no tune for dem Yankee mens!" + +"De Yankee sojers tuk all de blankets offen de beds. Dey stole all de +meat dey want fum de smokehouse. Dey bash in de top er de syrup barrels +en den turn de barrels upside down." + +"Marse Spence gave me ter Miss Marzee fer ter be her own maid, but +slav'ry time ended fo' I wuz big 'nough ter be much good ter 'er." + +"Us had lots better times dem days dan now. Whatter dese niggers know +'bout corn shuckin's, en log rollin's, en house raisin's? Marse Spence +used ter let his niggers have candy pullin's in syrup mekkin' time, en +de way us wud dance in de moonlight wuz sompin' dese niggers nowadays +doan know nuffin' 'bout." + +"All de white folks love ter see plenty er healthy, strong black chillun +comin' long, en dey wuz watchful ter see dat 'omans had good keer when +dey chilluns vuz bawned. Dey let dese 'omans do easy, light wuk towards +de last 'fo' de chilluns is bawned, en den atterwuds dey doan do nuffin +much twel dey is well en strong ergin. Folks tell 'bout some plantations +whar de 'omans ud run back home fum de fiel' en hev day baby, en den be +back in do fiel' swingin' er hoe fo' right dat same day, but dey woan +nuffin lak dat 'round Watkinsville." + +"When er scritch owl holler et night us put en iron in de fire quick, en +den us turn all de shoes up side down on de flo', en turn de pockets +wrong side out on call de close, kaze effan we diden' do dem things +quick, sompin' moughty bad wuz sho' ter happen. Mos' en lakly, somebuddy +gwint'er be daid in dat house fo' long, if us woan quick 'bout fixin'. +Whut us do in summer time, 'bout fire at night fer de scritch owl? Us +jes' onkivver de coals in de fire place. Us diden' hev no matches en us +bank de fire wid ashes evvy night all de year 'roun'. Effen de fire go +out, kaze some nigger git keerless 'bout it, den somebuddy gotter go off +ter de next plantation sometime ter git live coals. Some er de mens +could wuk de flints right good, but dat wuz er hard job. Dey jes rub dem +flint rocks tergedder right fas' en let de sparks day makes drap down on +er piece er punk wood, en dey gits er fire dat way effen dey is lucky." + +"Dem days nobuddy bring er axe in de house on his shoulder. Dat was er +sho' sign er bad luck. En nebber lay no broom crost de bed. One time er +likely pair er black folks git married, en somebuddy give 'em er new +broom. De 'oman she proud uv her nice, spankin' new broom en she lay hit +on de bed fer de weddin' crowd ter see it, wid de udder things been give +'em. Fo' thee years go by her man wuz beatin' 'er, en not long atter dat +she go plum stark crazy. She oughter ter know better'n ter lay dat broom +on her bed. It sho' done brung her bad luck. Dey sent her off ter de +crazy folks place, en she died dar." + + + + +[Document 5] + +May 3, 1937 + +Mr. Edwin Bjorkman, State Director +Federal Writers' Project, WPA +City Hall, Fifth Floor +Asheville, North Carolina + +Subj: Ex-slave Narratives + + +Dear Mr. Bjorkman: + +I am quoting a memorandum of Mr. Lomax, folklore editor, regarding the +ex-slave stories: + +"Of the five States which have already sent in reminiscences of +ex-slaves, Tennessee is the only one in which the workers are asking +ex-slaves about their belief in signs, cures, hoodoo, etc. Also, the +workers are requesting the ex-slaves to tell the stories that were +current among the Negroes when they were growing up. Some of the best +copy that has come in to the office is found in these stories." + +This suggestion, I believe, will add greatly to the value of the +collection now being made. + +Very truly yours, +George Cronyn +Associate Director + +CC--Mr. W.T. Couch, Asso. Director Federal Writers' Project + University Press + Chapel Hill, No. Car. + +GWCronyn/a + +SENT TO: No. and So. Carolina; Georgia; Alabama; Louisiana; + Texas; Arkansas; Kentucky; Missouri; Mississippi; + Oklahoma; Florida + + + + +[Document 6] + +MEMORANDUM +June 9, 1937 + +TO: STATE DIRECTORS OF THE FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +FROM: Henry G. Alsberg, Director + + +In connection with the stories of ex-slaves, please send in to this +office copies of State, county, or city laws affecting the conduct of +slaves, free Negroes, overseers, patrollers, or any person or custom +affecting the institution of slavery. It will, of course, not be +necessary to send more than one copy of the laws that were common +throughout the state, although any special law passed by a particular +city would constitute worthwhile material. + +In addition, we should like to have you collect and send in copies of +any laws or accounts of any established customs relating to the +admission to your State of bodies of slaves from Africa or other +sections, the escape of slaves, etc. Also, we should like to see copies +of advertisements of sales of slaves, published offers of rewards for +fugitive slaves, copies of transfers of slaves by will or otherwise, +records of freeing of slaves, etc. Public records of very particular +interest regarding any transaction involving slaves should be +photostated and copies furnished to the Washington office. + +Furthermore, contemporary accounts of any noteworthy occurrences among +the Negroes during slavery days or the Reconstruction period should be +copied, if taken from contemporary newspapers. If such records have been +published in books, a reference to the source would be sufficient. We +have been receiving a large number of extremely interesting stories of +ex-slaves. The historic background of the institution of slavery, which +should be disclosed with the information we are now requesting, will be +very helpful in the execution of the plans we have in mind. + +Copies sent to: +Alabama Georgia Maryland North Carolina Tennessee +Arkansas Kentucky Mississippi Oklahoma Texas +Florida Louisiana Missouri South Carolina Virginia + West Virginia + Ohio + Kansas + + + + +[Document 7] + +Notes by an editor on dialect usage in accounts +by interviews with ex-slaves. (To be used in +conjunction with Supplementary Instructions 9E.) + + +Simplicity in recording the dialect is to be desired in order to hold +the interest and attention of the readers. It seems to me that readers +are repelled by pages sprinkled with misspellings, commas and +apostrophes. The value of exact phonetic transcription is, of course, a +great one. But few artists attempt this completely. Thomas Nelson Page +was meticulous in his dialect; Joel Chandler Harris less meticulous but +in my opinion even more accurate. But the values they sought are +different from the values that I believe this book of slave narratives +should have. Present day readers are less ready for the over-stress of +phonetic spelling than in the days of local color. Authors realize this: +Julia Peterkin uses a modified Gullah instead of Gonzales' carefully +spelled out Gullah. Howard Odum has questioned the use of goin' for +going since the g is seldom pronounced even by the educated. + +Truth to idiom is more important, I believe, than truth to +pronunciation. Erskine Caldwell in his stories of Georgia, Ruth Suckow +in stories of Iowa, and Nora Neale Hurston in stories of Florida Negroes +get a truth to the manner of speaking without excessive misspellings. In +order to make this volume of slave narratives more appealing and less +difficult for the average reader, I recommend that truth to idiom be +paramount, and exact truth to pronunciation secondary. + +I appreciate the fact that many of the writers have recorded +sensitively. The writer who wrote "ret" for right is probably as +accurate as the one who spelled it "raght." But in a single publication, +not devoted to a study of local speech, the reader may conceivably be +puzzled by different spellings of the same word. The words "whafolks," +"whufolks," "whi'foiks," etc., can all be heard in the South. But +"whitefolks" is easier for the reader, and the word itself is suggestive +of the setting and the attitude. + +Words that definitely have a notably different pronunciation from the +usual should be recorded as heard. More important is the recording of +words with a different local meaning. Most important, however, are the +turns of phrase that have flavor and vividness. Examples occurring in +the copy I read are: + +durin' of de war +outmen my daddy (good, but unnecessarily put into quotes) +piddled in de fields +skit of woods +kinder chillish + +There are, of course, questionable words, for which it may be hard to +set up a single standard. Such words are: + +paddyrollers, padrollers, pattyrollers for patrollers +missis, mistess for mistress +marsa, massa, maussa, mastuh for master +ter, tuh, teh for to + +I believe that there should be, for this book, a uniform word for each +of these. + +The following list is composed of words which I think should not be +used. These are merely samples of certain faults: + + 1. ah for I + 2. bawn for born + 3. capper for caper + 4. com' for come + 5. do for dough + 6. ebry, ev'ry for every + 7. hawd for hard + 8. muh for my + 9. nekid for naked +10. ole, ol' for old +11. ret, raght for right +12. sneik for snake +13. sowd for sword +14. sto' for store +15. teh for tell +16. twon't for twan't +17. useter, useta for used to +18. uv for of +19. waggin for wagon +20. whi' for white +21. wuz for was + +I should like to recommend that the stories be told in the language of +the ex-slave, without excessive editorializing and "artistic" +introductions on the part of the interviewer. The contrast between the +directness of the ex-slave speech and the roundabout and at times +pompous comments of the interviewer is frequently glaring. Care should +be taken lest expressions such as the following creep in: "inflicting +wounds from which he never fully recovered" (supposed to be spoken by an +ex-slave). + +Finally, I should like to recommend that the words darky and nigger and +such expressions as "a comical little old black woman" be omitted from +the editorial writing. Where the ex-slave himself uses these, they +should be retained. + + +This material sent June 20 to states of: Ala., Ark., Fla., Ga., +Ky., La., Md., Miss., Mo., N.C., Ohio, Okla., Tenn., Texas, +Va., and S. Car. + + + + +[Document 8] + +MEMORANDUM +July 30, 1937. + +TO: STATE DIRECTORS OF THE FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +FROM: Henry G. Alsberg, Director + + +The following general suggestions are being sent to all the States where +there are ex-slaves still living. They will not apply _in toto_ to your +State as they represent general conclusions reached after reading the +mass of ex-slave material already submitted. However, they will, I hope, +prove helpful as an indication, along broad lines, of what we want. + + +GENERAL SUGGESTIONS: + +1. Instead of attempting to interview a large number of ex-slaves the +workers should now concentrate on one or two of the more interesting and +intelligent people, revisiting them, establishing friendly relations, +and drawing them out over a period of time. + +2. The specific questions suggested to be asked of the slaves should be +only a basis, a beginning. The talk should run to all subjects, and the +interviewer should take care to sieze upon the information already +given, and stories already told, and from them derive other questions. + +3. The interviewer should take the greatest care not to influence the +point of view of the informant, and not to let his own opinion on the +subject of slavery become obvious. Should the ex-slave, however, give +only one side of the picture, the interviewer should suggest that there +were other circumstances, and ask questions about them. + +4. We suggest that each state choose one or two of their most successful +ex-slave interviewers and have them take down some stories _word_ for +_word_. Some Negro informants are marvellous in their ability to +participate in this type of interview. _All stories should be as nearly +word-for-word as is possible._ + +5. More emphasis should be laid on questions concerning the lives of the +individuals since they were freed. + + +SUGGESTIONS TO INTERVIEWERS: + +The interviewer should attempt to weave the following questions +naturally into the conversation, in simple language. Many of the +interviews show that the workers have simply sprung routine questions +out of context, and received routine answers. + +1. What did the ex-slaves expect from freedom? Forty acres and a mule? A +distribution of the land of their masters' plantation? + +2. What did the slaves get after freedom? Were any of the plantations +actually divided up? Did their masters give them any money? Were they +under any compulsion after the war to remain as servants? + +3. What did the slaves do after the war? What did they receive +generally? What do they think about the reconstruction period? + +4. Did secret organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan exert or attempt to +exert any influence over the lives of ex-slaves? + +5. Did the ex-slaves ever vote? If so, under what circumstances? Did any +of their friends ever hold political office? What do the ex-slaves think +of the present restricted suffrage? + +6. What have the ex-slaves been doing in the interim between 1864 and +1937? What jobs have they held (in detail)? How are they supported +nowadays? + +7. What do the ex-slaves think of the younger generation of Negroes and +of present conditions? + +8. Were there any instances of slave uprisings? + +9. Were any of the ex-slaves in your community living in Virginia at the +time of the Nat Turner rebellion? Do they remember anything about it? + +10. What songs were there of the period? + +The above sent to: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Ga., Kentucky, La., +Md., Mississippi, Mo., N. Car., Okla., S. Car., Tenn., Texas, Virginia, +W. Va., Ohio, Kansas, Indiana. + + + + +[Document 9] + +MEMORANDUM +September 8, 1937 + +TO: STATE DIRECTORS OF THE FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +FROM: HENRY G. ALSBERG + + +It would be a good idea if you would ask such of your field workers as +are collecting stories from ex-slaves to try to obtain stories given to +the ex-slaves by their parents and grandparents. The workers should try +to obtain information about family traditions and legends passed down +from generation to generation. There should be a wealth of such material +available. + +We have found that the most reliable way to obtain information about the +age of ex-slaves or the time certain events in their lives took place is +to ask them to try to recollect some event of importance of known date +and to use that as a point of reference. For instance, Virginia had a +very famous snow storm called Cox's Snow Storm which is listed in +history books by date and which is well remembered by many ex-slaves. In +Georgia and Alabama some ex-slaves remember the falling stars of the +year 1883. An ex-slave will often remember his life story in relation to +such events. Not only does it help the chronological accuracy of +ex-slave stories to ask for dated happenings of this kind, but it often +serves to show whether the story being told is real or imagined. + +Sent the following states: +Alabama Maryland Tennessee +Arkansas Mississippi Texas +Florida Missouri Virginia +Georgia N. Carolina West Virginia +Kentucky Oklahoma Ohio +Louisiana S. Carolina Kansas + Indiana + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Slave Narratives, Administrative Files +(A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves), by Work Projects Administration + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SLAVE NARRATIVES *** + +***** This file should be named 13847.txt or 13847.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/8/4/13847/ + +Produced by Andrea Ball and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team, +from images provided by the Library of Congress, Manuscript Division. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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