The advent of the new deal marked a new phase, for it was under new deal employment programs for jobless whitecollar workers that narrative collecting reached its zenith, first in 1934 in a federal. The wpa workers interviews with exslaves made it possible to rewrite part of the history of the antebellum south from the perspective of the slave. Wpa on conducting and recording interviews with former slaves, 1937 pdf. Freed people tell their stories took place between 1932 and 1975 in nine states.
Slave narratives 1 louisiana historic and cultural vistas. American slavery left africans with no opportunities to merge within the. Slave narratives were hugely popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries, with many going through multiple reprintings and selling tens of thousands of copies. This pdf is a selection from an outofprint volume from the national bureau. He is still vigorous and capable of light manual labor. All wpa slave narratives by work projects administration number of unique words. The works progress administration wpa, the principal relief agency of the second new deal, was an attempt to provide work rather than welfare during the great depression. Ben horry wpa interview of 89yearold ben horry pronounced orree, who recollects his childhood as a slave in murrells inlet includes descriptions of his former owner our master treat us right, a slave familys food rations, the arrival of the union army, the beauty of brookgreen gardens, his work as a boatman, and even how goat. For the first time, the exslave narratives were made available outside the archives in their complete form. The wpa interviews by david walbert during the great depression, the federal writers project, a program of the works projects administration wpa, collected 2,300 interviews with former slaves throughout the u.
Opposing agendas in the georgia federal writers project slave. Twentythree interviewees discuss how they felt about slavery, slaveholders, coercion of slaves, their families, and freedom. Slaves resistance on southern plantations, selections. For this exercise, youll be using a collection of documents known as the wpa slave narratives, recollections of slavery by exslaves gathered in the 1930s by unemployed writers working for the works projects administration as part of franklin d. Slave lullabies more fse project brandeis university. A comparison of two female slave narratives marshall digital. The wpa slave narratives consist of transcriptions of narratives gathered and prepared by the federal writers project in the south and southwest, 193638, and deposited in the library of congress. A narrative of the life and adventures of charles ball 1837 attests to both the cruelty and tenderness white owners showed their slaves. These narratives were collected in the 1930s as part of the federal writers project fwp of the works progress administration, later renamed work projects administration wpa. Several individuals sing songs, many of which were learned during the time of their enslavement. Approximately fourthousand former slaves were interviewed for the federal writers project fwp, representing about 4% of the stillsurviving freed slaves musher, the other 1.
Sc sc africanamericans sc africanamericans, 15251865 sc slave narratives sc slave narratives and autobiographies. The wpa and americans life histories private efforts to preserve the life histories of former slaves accounted for only a small portion of the narratives collected during the late 1920s and 1930s. This thesis compares slave narratives written by mattie j. The works progress administration slave narratives are a massive collection of oral histories captured by the federal writers project. Typewritten records prepared by the federal writers project 19361938. The slave narrative collections of the work projects administration and fisk. It was the simultaneous effort of statelevel branches of fwp in. Unlike the antebellum slave narratives, the wpa interviews cover a wide spectrum of people who suffered under slavery. The federal writers project interviewed former slaves in 19371938, depositing the life histories in the library of congress. Using the wpa exslave narratives to study the impact of the. Slaves resistance on southern plantations, selections from.
Msgenweb library slave narrative project charlie davenport. The slave narratives in this series of the wpa records are arranged by county, and each county is assigned to a district. On file in the washington office in august, 1939, was a large body of slave narratives, photographs. Comparing exslave narratives gathered by black interviewers in florida with those gathered by white interviewers in georgia where four employees of the.
In fact, until the 1930s slave narratives outnumbered novels written by african americans. The excerpts below from wpa slave narratives suggest the range of slave responses. Slave narratives from the federal writers project, 19361938 contains more than 2,300 firstperson accounts of slavery and 500 blackandwhite photographs of former slaves. This is part of a series of interviews the united states government under the wpa conducted with former slaves in maryland during the great depression. Combine these war narratives with those in other sections of the toolbox. Most subjects were under the age of fifteen when the civil war ended, but they lived in seventeen states. According to the manuscript division of the library of congress, these life histories were written by the staff of the folklore project of the federal writers project for the u. The project gutenberg ebook of slave narratives, oklahoma. The first volume was editorial commentary, the last two volumes were exslave interviews conducted by scholars at fisk university in 1929, and the middle sixteen volumes were nothing more than edited narratives from the wpa project. Roosevelts new deal, although critics maintain that the narratives miss several marks in context. Even though these stories from exslaves are of worth, it is good to know the advantages and the disadvantages of using these interviews for research. Slave narratives from the federal writers project the federal writers project of the works progress administration wpa conducted interviews of former slaves during the 1930s. Progress administration, later renamed work projects administration wpa.
Over 2300 former slaves were interviewed during the great depression of the 1930s by members of the federal writers project, a new deal agency in the works progress administration wpa. Twentyseven of those ohio interviews did not get to lc, and are only available here. Slave narratives during slavery and after the slave narrative collection represents the culmination of a literary tradition that extends back to the eighteenth century, when the earliest american slave narratives began to appear. Apr 03, 2014 the first volume was editorial commentary, the last two volumes were ex slave interviews conducted by scholars at fisk university in 1929, and the middle sixteen volumes were nothing more than edited narratives from the wpa project. National humanities center resource toolbox the making of african american identity. Hill the main purpose of these detailed and homely questions is to get the negro interested in talking about the days of slavery, wrote the american musicologist john lomax, who was a national advisor on folklore for the works. Volume iv, georgia narratives, part 1, by work projects administration this ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. First, the narratives help us to understand the personal experience of former slaves. The result of these efforts was the library of congress slave narrative collection, a group of autobiographical. All participants were 80 years of age or older, and were. Within each district, individuals are alphabetized by surname. Ben horry wpa interview of 89yearold ben horry pronounced orree, who recollects his childhood as a slave in murrells inlet. Between 1936 and 1938, over 2,000 verbal accounts were recorded and compiled as part of president franklin d.
Slave narratives of louisianians living in texas, 19361938 11 ld marse was ogis2 guidry. Combining an ethnographic and historical approach, the author uses. The wpa was a new deal program designed to put people to work, but the. The newberry library owns many original slave narratives, as well as the united states works progress administration wpa slave narrative collection. Using the wpa exslave narratives to study the impact of. Slave narratives a folk history of slavery in the united states from interviews ivith former slaves typewritten records prepared by the federal writers project 19361938 assembled by the library of congress project work projects administration for the district of columbia sponsored by the library of congress illustrated with photographs. During the later years of the 1930s the wpa slave narratives project was produced by the federal writers project of the works project administration after the great depression. Slave life during the civil war, emancipation of enslaved african. There are quite a few advantages of the wpa slave narratives. Slave narratives from slavery to the great depression an. At the conclusion of the slave narrative project, a set of edited transcripts was.
C american legacy books, 1994 this useful series of books divides the wpa slave narratives into thematic groups. Many other narratives from the collection are found in some of the books that are listed in this webliography. Slave narratives of louisianians living in texas, 19361938 9 a gathe babineaux alias agatha babino1 nee agathe richard carencro, lafayette parish exslave of auguste guidry 1 a longer version of this interview can be found at roots web with an addendum offering information deleted in edited transcriptions and lost information. Federal writers project, 19361938 as transcribed in the interviewers typed reports. Readings from the slave narratives what was it like to be enslaved in the united states. Some six thousand such narratives are estimated to exist. The wpa slave narratives comprise over 200 narratives of exslaves collected by the works progress administration. It was the simultaneous effort of statelevel branches of fwp in seventeen states, working largely separately from. Jul 06, 2016 comparing ex slave narratives gathered by black interviewers in florida with those gathered by white interviewers in georgia where four employees of the fwp were also members of the united. The slave narrative collections were meant to document the views, experiences and opinions of surviving former slavers then 7 decades after the conclusion of the civil war and emancipation before these now very old folks, were all gone. Slave narratives recount the personal experiences of antebellum slaves or former slaves, and comprise one of the most extensive and influential traditions in african american literature and culture. Slave narratives from the federal writers project, 19361938 as transcribed in the interviewers typed reports library of congress, manuscript division. A comparison of two female slave narratives thesis submitted to the graduate college of marshall university in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master of arts in history by miya hunterwillis dr. The writers unit of the library of congress project process es material left over from or not needed for publication by the state writers1 projects.
The greatest vogue of this genre occurred during the three decades of sectional controversy that preceded the civil war. All of the background links located on the rightand sidebar of the home page point back to the digitized library of congress website, where all 17 volumes of the wpa narratives collection can be downloaded as pdf files as i mention in the first post and in the sidebar, it is important to at least read about how and what the wpa narratives are as well as their limitations to best understand. The recordings of former slaves in voices remembering slavery. The advantages and disadvantages of using wpa slave narratives. Most slaves were imported from the african continent into america. Works progress later work projects administration wpa from 19361940. The project gutenberg ebook of slave narratives, oklahoma a. The wpa and the slave narrative collection an introduction. Al1 aarons, charlie al2 abercrombie, anthony al3 ammonds, molly al4 anderson, charity al5 askew, gus al6 baker, tom al7 barnes, henry al8 beauchamp, nathan al9. Louisiana history and heritage education programs louisianas.
To merge his double self into a better and truer self. Slave narratives and abolitionist books share much in common in terms of their descriptions of the institution of slavery, how slavery is entrenched in american society, and how slaves struggle to overcome the psychological humiliation and physical degradation that slavery entails. The wpa slave narratives consist of 3,500 relatively brief oral histories most of them two to fourpages long, representing about 2 percent of all exslaves surviving in the late 1930s. Feb 10, 2015 these narratives are constantly used for study. A guide to the works progress administration records. Depends on two daughters for support who make their living washing for the public. Du bois 365 if it is true that, as du bois feared, the experience of being an africanamerican. Set beside the work of formal historians, social scientists, and novelists, slave autobiographies, and contemporary records of abolitionists and planters, these life histories. Slave narratives from the wpa federal writers project, 19361938. Yet during the civil war many slaves fled their owners as soon as they could. Why do some slave narratives from epa seem so positive. Define point of view and speaker for your students.
Under the wpa, buildings, roads, airports and schools were constructed. Walter calloway once witnessed how a thirteen year old girl almost died after being whipped by his master. Nobody knows my birthday, cause all my white folks is gone. Is the greatest collection of slave narratives tainted by the. Its interesting to read the former slaves recollections and events they experienced or overhead during the slave years, and their general thoughts on the current world and society.
More than 2,000 african americans answered that question in interviews conducted during the 1930s. Situating the wpa, exslave narratives in the historiography. A folk history of slavery in the united states often referred to as the wpa slave narrative collection was a massive compilation of histories by former slaves undertaken by the federal writers project of the works progress administration from 1936 to 1938. The slave owner made all kinds of demands from his slaves including sex privileges. Msgenweb library slave narrative project rube montgomery. In 1941 they were assembled in 17 volumes under the title, slave narratives, a folk history of slavery in the united states from interviews with. Slave narratives were hugely popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries, with many going through multiple reprintings and selling tens of. The slave narrative is a type of literary genre involving the written autobiographical accounts of enslaved africans in great britain and its colonies, including the later united states, canada, and caribbean nations. For the first time, the ex slave narratives were made available outside the archives in their complete form. Their voices come to life inside the pages of this magazine and in the extraordinary new documentary unchained memories. Many of the slave narratives that were collected during the wpa project during 19361938 are part of the library of congress slave narrative website section at the end of this webliography.
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