Administrative files. 001

A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves TYPEWRITTEN RECORDS PREPARED BY THE FEDERAL WRITERS PROJECT I, 1936 1938 ASSEMBLED BY THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PROJECT WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SPONSORED BY THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Illustrated with Photographs WASHINGTON 1941 SLAVE NARRATIVES

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~Ei)~R~L ;I0RKS G~NCY ~1O}~K P.r~O3ECTS ADMINISTRATION FOR T~ DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Paul Edwards, ~drninistrutor ~ielie S. Fair, Director, Division of Oomrnunity Service Programs i .ary Nan Gamble, Chief, Public Activities Programs THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PROJECT Official Project No. l65- 2~26 7 Work Project No. 540 Llary Nan Gamble, Acting Project Supervisor Francesco r~I. Bianco, Assistant Project Supervisor B. A. Botkin, Chief Editor, Writers Unit

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CONTENTS I. II. III. Iv. V. VI. VII. VIII. Ix. X. XI. XII. XIII. XIV. XV. XVI. XVII. AlABAMA ARKANSAS FLORIDA GEORGIA INDIANA KANSAS EE~NTUCKY MARTh~ND MISSISSIPPI ~SSOURI NOI?flI CAROLINA OHIO OKLAHOMA SOUTH CAROLINA TENNESSEE TEXAS VIRGINIA

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INTRODUCTION I This co11~etion of slave narratives had its beginning in the second year of the formerFederal driters Project (now the Wri-~ ters Program), 1936, when several state Writers Projects-.- notably those of Florida,Georgia, and. South Carolina-~recorded interview.s with ex slaves residing in those states. On April 22, 1937, a standard questionnaire for field workers drawn up by John A. Lorna~t, then National Advisor on Folklore and Folkways for the Fed eral writers Project~ was issued from Washington as Supplementary Instructions #9 E to The ~ierican guide Manual (appended below). Also associated with the direction and criticism of the work in the Jashington office of the Federal writers Project were Henry G. Alsberg, Director; George Cronyn, Associate Director; Sterling A. Brown, Editor on Negro Affairs; ~a~r Lloyd, Edi ) 9 tor; and B. A. Botkin, Folklore Editor succeeding rr. Lar~x Ltr. Lornax served from ~Tuiie 25, 1936, to October 23, 1937, with a ninety-day furlough beginning July 24, 1937. According to a memorandum written by Nr. Alsberg on ~arch 23, 1937, i~r. 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 mak ~ ing recordings of Negro s ongs and cowboy ballads . Though techni cally on the ~yroll 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 Cuides devoted to folklore are also under his supervision. Since 1933 Mr. Lomax ha~ been Honorary Curator of the .~rchive of American Folk Song, Library of Congress. 2Folklore Consultant, from May 2 to July 31, 1938; Folklore Editor, from August 1, 1938, to August 31, 1939.

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vi~ . On August 31, 1939, the Pederal Writers Project became the Viriters 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 Athainistration in the District of Colurithia, to continue sorile of the functions of the National Technical Pro~ ject, chiefly those concerned with books of a regional or nation~ wide scope. On February 12, 1940, the project was reorganized along strictly conservation lines, and. on August 16 it was suc. ceeded by the present Library of Congress Project (Official Project No. l65-2 26~ ?, Work Project No. 540). The present Library of Congress Project, under the sponsor~ ship 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 Fonn 301), the purpose of the Project is to collect, check, edit, index, and otherwise prepare for use 7~PA records, Professional and Service Projects. The writers Unit of the Library of Congress Project process es 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 infoirnants regarding slaveiy, transcripts of laws, advertisements, records of sale,

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vii transfer, and ~rianumission of slaves, and other documents. As un~ published ni~nuscripts of the Federal ~1riters Project these records passed into the hands of the Library of Congress Project for processing; and from them has been assembled the present col~ lection of some two thousand nan~tives from the following seven~ teen states: ~ilabaiua, ~rkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Earyland, ::ississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, ~outh Carolina,Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia~ The work Of the writers Unit in preparing the narratives for deposit in the Library of Congress consisted principally of ar~ ranging the nisnuscripts and photographs by states and alphabet1~ cally by infonriants within the states, listing the infonnants and illustrations, and collating the contents in seventeen volumes divided into thirty three parts. The following ~~ateria1 has been omitted: ~ost of the interviews with infoi~~ants born too late to remer~ber anytdng of s~nificance regarding slavery or concerned chiefly with folklore; a few negligible frag~ents and unidentified ~.ianuscripts; (j group of Tennessee interviews showing evidence -j- The bulk of the 7ir~inia narratives is still in the scate of fice. xcerpts from these are included in The I~egro in Virginia, compiled by Jorkers of the writers Prograrn~f the ork Projects ~&uinistra~ion in the StaLe of ~nirginia, Sponsored by the P~c~pton Institute, Hastings Touse, Thiblisiiers, i ew York, 1940. Other sl~tve narratives are published in Drums and Shad~s Survival ~tudies among the Georgia Coastal ~e~roei, ~v~mah Tjnit, Georgia writers Project, ~Jork l~rojects ~diinistration, Tjniversity of G orgia Pre~..: 1940. ~ co:1posite article, ~ Slaves, based on ex cerpts from three interviews, was contributed by Elizabeth Lo;ax to the A~erican Stuff issue of Direction, Vol. 1, T~o. 3, 193E.

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viii of plagiarism; and the supplementary material gathered in connec tion 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 xeceived from the state ~irit~ ers Projects, as part of their surplus, to make a supplement, which, it is hoped, will contain several states not here repre sented, such as Louisiana. All editing had previously been done in the states or the lashington office. Some of the pencilled comnents have been identified as those of lohn A. Lomax and Alan Lomax, who also i ead the manuscripts. In a few cases, two drafts or versions of the saine interview bave been. included for comparison of inter esting variations or alterations. II Set beside the work of foi~nal 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 in valuable body of unconscious evidence or indirect source ma terial, which scholars and writers dealing with the South, es pecially. social psychologists and cultural anthropologists, can not 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

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ix way. In spite of obvious 1irnitations-~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, rriistresses, and overseers, toward poor whites, North and South, the Civil V~ar, i~~iancipation, Reconstruction, religion, education, and virtually every phase of Negro life in the South. The narratives belong to fok history -history recovered from the r~e~iories and lips of participants or eye witnesses, who r iingle group with individual experience and both with observation, hearsa:T, and tradition. ~Ihether th~ narrators relate what they actually saw and thou~ht and felt, what they ima~,ine, or what they have thought and felt about slavery since, now we ~mow why the7 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 re~ional patterns -the pat t3rns of field hand, house and body servant, and artisan; the patterns of kind and cruel master or mistress; the patterns of Southeast and Southwest, lowl~3.nd ~nd upland, tidewater and inland, s~~aller ~nd l~r~er )iant~tions, and racial ~ixture (including Gre oie ~nd Indian). The narratives belong also to folk literature. 2ieh riot only in folk songs, folk tales, arid folk speech but also in folk hu rior ~)nd poetry, crude or skilful in diulect, uneven in tone and

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X treatment the y co ns tantly reward one with earthy imagery salty phrase and sensit ive detail In their unconse lotis exhibi~ ted in many a fine and powerful short story, they are a contri bution to the i~ealistic writing of the Negro. Beneath all the surface contradictions and exaggerations, the fantasy and f lat tery, they possess an essential truth and humanity which sur passes as it supplements history and literature. washington, D. C. B. A. Botkin June 12, 1941 Chief Editor, V riters Unit Library of Congress Project

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. SELECTED RECORDS Bearing on the History of the Slave Narratives ~ ran the correspondence and memoranda files of the Washington office of the Federal Writers Project the following instruct ions and criticisms relative to the slave narrative collection, issued from April 1 to September 8, 1937, have been selected. Th~y 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 I~~emorandum from John A. Lomax to George Cronyn. April 9, 1937. 3 Copy of Memoranduni from Ge orge C ronyn to Edwi n Bj or~rian, enclosing a Memorandum from 3ohn A. Lomax on Negro Dialect Suggestions. April 14, 1937. 4. Mimeographed Supplementary Instructions j//9-E to the Anierican Guide I~anual. Folklore. Stories fran Ex Slaves.t April 22, 1937. Prepared by John A.. Lomax. 5. Copy of Memorandum from George Cxvnyn to Edwin Bjor1~aaan. May 3, 1937. 6. Copy of Memorandum from Henry Q, Alsberg to State Directors of the Federal Writers Project. 3une 9, 1937. 7. Copy of Notes by an Editor on Dialect Usage in ~ccounts by interviews with Ex Slaves. June 20, 1937. Prepared by Sterling A. Brown. 8. Copy of Memorandum from Henry G. lsberg to State Directors of the Federal ~riters Project. July, 30, 1937. 9. Copy of Memorandum from henry ~. Alsberg to State Directors of the Federal ~7riters Project. September 8, 1937. xi

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xii Sent to : NORrH & SOUTH CAROLINA GEORGIA AlABAMA LOUISIANA TEXA ARL~INSAS ~NNESSEE, KP~NTUcKr, MISSOURI, MISSISSIPPI, OKLA. April 1, 193 ? Mrs. Eudora R. Richardson, Acting State Director Federal Writers Project, WPA Rooms 321-4, Atnerlcan Bank Building Richmond, Virginia Subj: Folklore Dear Mrs. Richardson: We have received fron Florida a remarkably interesting collection of autobiographical. stories by ex-slaves. Such docuiner~tary records by the survivors of a historic period in America are invaluable, both to the student of history arid to creative writers. If a volume of ~ uch 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 p cu liar idiom is often more expressive than a literary account. We shall be very glad to know 1f 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

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r ~ *~4~ )~ -_~) s~t~1r ~,~._* rA1~ ~ e # ~ J ~ 0 Zn ~ 4~ ~it ~ j ~ ~ :~ ~.. ~ e ___~ *3 J, tsm~ ~~z:~:; 4A~1;__2~*it, a~~L~~Z) I , v~A~ ~ ~ 4, c~, ~a~e~~1ta c~:?::L ~ ~# 0 V 1~:~7~%~ ~ b~ . 2~ -~-- ~ tr~ys i~t;~ b ~/ ~-~ ~*_i ~. d~ a e? p ~ ~~t : . ~ z? ~ ~ c~tsi_L. a~ ~ !r t ~ affi;~ttL$eoess ~a, :2~~ ;~ ~ ic~R~rs _ _ ._$~D ThL ~S ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ (. ~ . t ~. ~ ~ ~ t ~fr~ A t_ ;~.~t~1~4 ~ ~ - ~ _a kmw4uur . L ~ V. .. ~ . .4. _. _#

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xv (Transcript cf Preceding ~iitograph Memorandum) 4/9/37 ~ir. Cronyn: In replying to this letter I should like for you to canmend especially two stories: 1. LulaFlannigan by Sarah II. hail ~thens, Ga. 2. Uncle Willis, hiss Velma Bell, Supervisor, Athens, Ga. All the stories are worth while but t~aese two are mainly (one entirely) in dialect and abound in human interest touches. ~:lil the interviewers should copy the ITegro ex~ressions. I much prefer to read. unedited (but typed) 7 inte~iews,T 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 tslave codes, overseers codes arid the like.t ~ new and all the states should send in si:~~ilar Yours, copies of This item is material. ~Tohn A. Lo iax

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xvi Sent to; North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama Louisiana Texas Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, ~ississippi Oklahoma. April 14, 193 ? Mr. i~dwi~n Bjorkman State T)irector, Federal Writers Project Wo:ks Progress Administration City Hall, Fifth Floor Asheville, North Carolina Dear ~:r. Bjorkrnan: 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 bave portraits wherever they can be secured but we urge your photographers to make the studies as simple, natural, and unposed as poe sible. Let the backgr und, cabin or whatnot, be the nonnal setting in short, just the picture a visitor would ex pect to find by dropping in on one of these old-timers. Enclosed is a memorandum of ir. Loraax with suggestions for simplifying the spelling of certain recurring dialect words. This does not mean that the interviews should be en tirely 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 4~ssociate Director . Federal Writers Project GWC ronyn :I~B This paragraph was added to the letter to Arkansas. ~:r. Lomax is very eager to get such records as you mention: Court Records of Sale, Transfer,~ and Freein~~ of Slaves, as well as prices paid.

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xvi j Negro Dialect Suggestions (Stories of Ex Slaves) Do not write: Ah for I ~.2! for po (poor) Hit for it Tuh for to Wuz for was Baid for bed J:~4_4_ for dead Ouh for our I~:ah for my Ovah for over Othuli for other ~ for whar (where) Undah for under Fuh for for ~(onda~ for yonder ~ost~~e ~ for znarst~ . or massa ~ for gw~neter (going to) Oman for woman ~ for iffen (if) Fluh or fiah for fire Uz or uv or o for of

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xvi I for poor or po ~ for jine Coase for cose Utha for other 12: for you 2!~ for give 22! for caught Kin for kind Cose for cause TtjoL~ for thought

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11478 WORKS PROGRESS ADMIN1 STRAT ION Federal Writer~ Project 1500 Eye St. N.W. Washington, D. C. SUPPLEMENTARY INSTRUCTIONS #9~E To THE AMERICAN GUIDE MA~JAL FOLKLORE STORIES FROM EX SLAVES Note In some states it may be possib ,e to locate only a very few ex~s1aves, but an att rnpt should be rnade in every state. Interesting ex slave data has recently been reported from Rhod.e Island, for instance. .&pril 22, 1~37

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11478 ~QRIES FROM ~X~SL~VES ~ ~ . . ~ The main purpose of these detailed and homely questions is to get the Negro mt erested in talking abi t the days of slavery . If he ~vi11 talk freely, he should be encourage~.to say what he pleases without reference to the questions. It should be remembered that. the Federal Writers1 Project is not interested. in taking sides on any questions The worker should not censor any material collected, regard~ less of its nature. . It will not be necessary, indeed it will probably be a mis.take, 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.coinplicated that it may confuse the reader. A second visit, a few days after the first one, is so that the worker maygather all the worthwhile recollections first talk has aroused. Questions: important ~ that~ the 1. Where and when were you born? 2. Give the naines of your father and mother. There 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 bi~y with this money? 4. WLat did. you eat and how was it cooked? Any possiixns? Rabbits? Fish? What food did you like best? Did the slaves have their own gardens?

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xxi Stories from Ex~s1aves ~2 ~ 11478 5. ?lhat clothing cUd you wear in hot weather? Cold weather? On Sundays? Any shoes? Describe your wedding clothes. 6. Tell a1~out your master, mistress, their chji~ren, the house they liveQ. in, the overseer or driver, poor white neighbors. 7. How many acres in the plantation? How many slaves on it? How and at ~rhat time CUd. theoverseer wake up the slaves? Did they work hard. and~ late at night? How and. for what causes were the slaves punishod.? Tell what you saw. Tell some of the storiE~s you heard. 8. Was there a jail for slaves? Did you ever see ar~y slaves sold or auctioned off? How did. groupe of slaves tra7el? Did you ever see slaves in chains? 9. Did the \1hit ~ folks help you to learn to read and. r rite? 10. DId th~ slaves have a church on your plantation? Did.they read. the Bible? Who wr~s your f.avorit~ preacher? Your favorite spirituals? Tc11 about the baDtizing; baptizing songs. Funerals and. funoral songs. 11. DId the slaves ev ~r run away to the North? Thy? ~TIiat did you hear about patrollers? Hoyt did slaves carry news from one plan tation to another? Did you hear of trou~1e betvreon the blacks ~nd whites? 12. VThat did. thf~ s1~LVes do vThen they went to their quarters after the day!s work rias done on the DL~ntation? Did. thcy ;iork cn S~.turdav afternoons? ~That did they do Saturday nights? Sundays? Christmas ir~orning? New Yc~rts DayT Any other holidays? Cornshucking? Cotton Picking? D~txices? When some of the white rri~ster s family married or died? wodding or death amonr~ the slaves? 13. What games did you Dlay as a child.? Can you give ~he v!Ord.5 or si ig ~Jny of the plaj song~3 or ring gamer Of the children? Riddles? Charms? Stories about Raw Head and Bloody Boncs or other hante of ghosts? Stories about anim s? V~hrtt do you think of voodoo? Can you give the worc~s or sing ~tny lu11abi~s? Wor1~ songs? Plantation hollers? Can you tell a funny story you have hc~rd or something funny that h.aDp~ned to you? Toll about tbe gho~t3 you have seen. 14. Vi hen slnves became sick who looked after thorn? What mcdi cmos did the doctors give theni? What med.icine (herbs, leaves, or roots) did the s1~.ves usc for sickness? What charms did they wear and to k~3ep off VThat liseases?

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xxi I Stories from Ex~sIaves 3~ 11478 15. What do you rerne~ther about the war that brought yQur freedom? What h~ppened on the day news carne that you were free? What did your rn~ster ~ay 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 KuXiux Klan and. the Nightriders. Any school then for Ne~r es? Any land? l7 Whom did you marry? Degcribe the wedding. How many children and grandchildren have you and what ~re they doing? 18. ~That do you think of Abraham Lincoln? Jefferson Davis? Booker Washington? Any other prominent white man or Negro you have known or heard of? 19. Novi that si~very is ended what do you think of it? v~hy you joined a church arid why you think all ~eop1e should be Tell religious. 20. rules? W;:~s the overseer poor white trash ? What viere some of his The details of the intr~rview sh~u1c~ be reported as accur~?~to .y as possiblt ft the langun~ e of the original str~te~ mente. An exarnpl3 of nv~terial COi1.~Ct~d turough one of the intervie~rs ~rith ex ~lav~s is attached hercvi~th. Although this material was collcctc~d oef3rc th3 ~tand~.r~ quostiennrirc hnd boon prepf~r~c1, it represents an ~xce 1ont .rncthod of reporting an intorvior:. More information might hr~ve been obtr~inod how ever, if a conmreh~nsive qucetionnaire had be.~n used.

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xxiii . ~ 11478 ~_r~pJ~ Interview ~ ____ LULA FLANNIGAN Ex-dave, 78 years. ttDey says I w~iz jes fo~ years oie when de vrar wuz over, but I sho does member 0at day dem Yankee sojers come down de road. Mary and. Willie Durham wuz my mammy and ~appy, en dey belong ter Marse Spence Durham at ~Vatkinsvi11e in sla1 r,r t mes.~ When word corn dat ae Yankee sojers v uz on de way, Ma.rse Spence en his sons V~117~ tway at de. ~ Miss Betsey to1~ my pappy ter take en hide de hos~es do~rn in de ~wa~m. My mammy help Miss Betsey sew up de silver in de cotton bed ticks. Dem Yankee sojers neiTher did find our wMtefolkst hosses and deir silver. tfMis~ Marz~e, she v~z Marse Spcnce on Miss Betsey s daughter. She r~uz playth on de piann~ ~ dc Yankeo sojers com~~ clown de road. Two sojers ciim in de house ~n ax her fer tcr play er tune dat dey liked. I fergit~ dc name er dey tune. Miss Marz~e ~its up fum de piann~ en she l~vi dat sho amt g~ iinc~ play no tune for no Yankee mens. Den de sojers takes her out en ~t her ut~ on top er d.t-~ high ~att~ post in front ~r d~3 big house, ~n rnek her s~t d~,r tr:ci ~1e v:hol~ rc~irncnt pass by. She set dar en cry, ~ut she sho aine nebber pl~.yed no tune for dorn Yankec m ~ns~ t D~ Thnkee scjcrs tijk all dc l~3.ankets offon de beds. Dey stole all dc meat de,r v ant fu n de smokehouse . Boy hr~sh in de top er d~ syrup barrels en den turn dc brrrols upsidc down. Marss Spence gaveme ter Miss M~Lrzee fer ter b~ her o~.in maid, but slavtry time ondcd fO~ I ~aZ big nough ter hc much good ter ter. t

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xxiv . 11478 ~ . Page2 !IUs haa lots bette r times aern days dan now. Whatter aese niggers know bout corn shuckin s, en 1o~ rollin s, en house raisints? Marse Spenc~ used ter let his niggers have candy pullin s in syrup rnekkint time, en de way us wud dance in de moonlight wuz sompin d.ese niggers nowadays doan know nuffin ~ ~bout . All de white folks love ter see plenty er healthy, strong black chillun commt long, en dey wuz watchful ter see dat tomans had gooc3 keer when dey chilluns vruz bawned. Dey let dese tomans do easy, light wuk toward~s de last foi de chilluns is bavined, en den attervmds dt~y doan do nuffln much twel dey is well on strong er~,in. Folks tell tbout some plantations whar de omans ud run back home fusn de fielt en heir day baby, en den be back in do fiel ~ swingint er hoe fo ~ night dat samc~ day . but dey uioan nuffin 1~Jc dat round ~ When er scritch owl holler et n~.ght us put en iron in de fire quick, en den us turn all de shoes up side do~in on de flo , on turn de pockets wrong side out on all de close, kaze effen we dident do dem things quick, sompint mou~jhty oad ruz sho ~ ter happen. Moet en lakly, sornobudd.y ~viint!er be daid in dat house fot long, if us woan quick tbout fixin . Thut us do in summer time, tbout fire at night for do ~critch o~l? Us j~~t oakivver d~ coals in de fire. placc. Us diden1 h~v no matches, on us hank de fire wid. ashes evvy night all de ye~tr ~roui-i~. Effon du fire go out, kazo some nigger git koerless t~out it, den som~buddy gotter go off tor de next plantation Sometime ter git live coals. Some er de . mens could w ik d.c flints right good, but d ~t 1: uz or hard. job. Dey jes rui d~m flint rocks ter~edder right fn~8l ~ let de si~arks day makcs drap dowi~ on er plocc er pimk wood, en dey

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xxv 11478 Pa~ge 3 gits er fire ~t way effen ey is lucky. ADern days n ~iddy bring er axe in de house on his shoulder. Dat V TU2 er shot si~ri er b~.d luck. En n&ber lay no broom cro~t de bed. One time er likely pair er black folks git married, en soniebuddy cive 7ecn er new broom. De oman ~he proud uv her nice, spankint new br om en she lay hit on de bed fer de weddint crowd ter see it, wid de udder tiiin~s been ~i re em. Fo thee years go by her man. wuz beatin ter, en not long atter dat she go plum stark crazy. She ou~hter terknow bettertii ter lay dat broom on her bed. It sho done brune her bad luck. D~y sont her off ter de crazy folks place, en she died dar.

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Subj : Ex-slave Narratives xxvi May 3, 1937 L~r. Edwin Bjorkinan, State Director Federal Writers Project, WPA City Hall, Fifth Floor Asheville, North Carolina Dear Mr. Bjorkinan: I am quoting a memorandum of ~r. Lomax, folklore editor, regarding the ex-slave stories: of the five States which have already sent in rexniniscences 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 Director Federal Writers Project CC lir. W. T. Couch, Asso. University Press Chapel Hill, No. Car. G~Cronyn/a SENTTO: No. and So Carolina; Georgia; ~labaraa; Louisiana; Texas ; Arkansas ; Kentucky ; Missouri ; ~vi1SS1SSippi; Oklahoma; Florida

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MEMORANDUM 3une 9, 1937 TO : ST ~TE DIRECTORS OF THE FEDERAL WREi~S PROJECT FROM: henry G. Alsberg, Director In connection with the stories of ex-~s1aves, please send in to this office copies of State, county, or city laws affecting the conduct of slaves, free Negroes, overseers, pat rollers, 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 cus~ toms relating to the admission to your State of bodies of slaves from Africa or other sections, the escape of slaves, etc. ~lso, 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 regard ing any transaction involving slaves should be photostated and copies fui~ished to the ~Jashington office. Frti~n, contemporary aec ount s of any noteworthy occurrences among the Negroes during slavery days or the Recon struction period should be copied, if taken from contemporary newspapers. If such recoi~s have been published in books, a reference to the source would be sufficient. 7e have been re ceiving 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~ ~Uabama ~ Georgia Maryland North Carolina Tennessee :~rkansas Kentucky I~Tississippi Oklahoma Texas Florida Louisiana ~uissouri South Carolina Virginia west Virginia Ohio Kansas xxvii

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Notes by an editor on dialect usage maccounts byinterviews with ex~s1aves . (~o1i ubed ~ conjunction With Supplementary Instructfons 9E.) Simplicity in recording the dialect is to be desired in rder to hold the interest and attention of the readers. It seems to me that readers are i~pelled by pages sprinkled with iuisspe1l~ ings, commas and apostrophes. The value of exact phonetic trans cription.is, of course, a great one. But few artists attempt this completely. Thomas Nelson Page was meticulous in his dia-fl lect; Toel Chan dler 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. ~~uthors realize this: Julia Peterkin uses a riodified Gullah in stea~ of Gonzales carefully spelled out Gullah. ~Toward Odum has :~uestioned the use of ~oin for going since the g is seldom pronounced even by the educated. T~ith to idiom is ~~ore im~portant, I believe, than truth to pronunciation. Erskine Caidwell in his stories of Georgia, Ruth 3uckow in stories of Iowa, and ~ora ITeale Hurston in stories of ~ 1orida Tegroes get a tnith to t~e ::anner of speaking without excessive misspellings. In order to make this volume of slave n~trratives :~ore appealing and less difficult for the average reader, I recommend that truth to idiom be paramount, and exact tii~th to pronunciation second ry. xxviii

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xxix I appreciate the fact that many of the writers have record.~ cd sensitively. The writer who wrote ret for right is probab-. :I.y 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 sar~e word. The words whafolks, whufoiks, ??whi~folks,fl etc., cJn all be heard in the South. But whitefolks is easier for t~ e reader, and the word itself is suggestive of the setting and the attitude. ~Iords that definitely have a notably different pronunciation fro~i the usual should be recorded as heard. More important is the recording of words with a different local ::ieaning. 1~. iost iL~1pOrtaflt, however, are the turns of phrase that have flavor and v~vidness~ Exa~iples occurring in the copy I read are: dunn of de war out~an my daddy (good, but uirnecessariiy 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 st~dard. Such words are: paddyrollers, padrollers, pattyroilers for patroliers missis, mnistess for mistress marsa, mass~ inaussa, ~:~astuh for master ter, tuh, teh for to I believe tat there should he, for this book, a uniform ~~ord for each of these. The following list is composed of words which I think ~hou1d not be used. These &re :ierely s~~~p1es of certain faults:

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xxx 10 ah for I 2. bawn for born 3. capper for caper 4. corn for come 5. do for dough 6. ebry, ev ry for every 7. hawd for hard 8. niuh for my 9. nakid~ for naked 10. ole, ol for old 11. ret, raght for right 12. snaik 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 is. uv for of 19. waggin for wagon 20. whi for white 21. wuz for was I should like to i~comrnend that the stories be told in the lan~~uage of the ex~-slave, wittout excessive editorializing and artistic introductions on the part of t~aeinterviewer. The con~ trast between the directness of the ex~s1ave speech and the roundabout and at tir~ies po~pous comments of the interviewer is fre juently glaring. Care should be taken lest expressions such as the foLlowing creep in: inflicting wounds from which he never fully recovered ( sup7osed to be spoken by an ex slave). Flnalij, I should i1k~ to i ec unend that the words thirky and nigger and such ex~rsssi3ns as a comical little old black woman be ou~itted from the editorial ~~riting, ~here the ex-~slave him self uses these, they should he i~tained. This~aterial sent ~Tune 20 to stat3s of: ~la., Ark., Fla.,Ga., Ky. La. 1~d. ~:iss. ~.o. ~. C. Ohio, Okla. Term. Texas, Va. and S. Car.

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M E M O R A N D U M 3~u1y 30, 1937. TO : STATE DIRECTORS OF ~E FEDERAL WRITERS PROJ~ECT 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 reacIi~d~ifter reading the nass of ex slave material already submitted. However, they will, I hope, pi~ve 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 infornation &lready given, and stories already told, and from than derive other questions. 3. The interviewer should take the greatest care not to influente the point of view of the in~ omant, ~nd not to let his own opinion on the subject of slavery become obvious. Jhould the ex~-slave, however, give only one side of the picture, the interviewer should su~~gest that there were other circumstances, and ask questions about them. 4. ~1e sug~est that each state choose one or two of thier most successful ex-slave interviewers and have them take down some stories word for word. Some Negro infomants are mar~ vellous in their ability to ~irticipate in this type of interview. ~l1stories should b ~ as nearly word~for-wordas is possible. xxxi 5. ~:ore emphasis should be laid on questions concern~ ing the lives of the individuals since they were freed.

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SUGGESTIONS TO INTERVIEWERS: The interviewer should attempt to weave the following questions naturally into the conversation, in simple language. L~any of the interviews show that the workers have simply sprung routine questions out of context, and received routine answei~. 1. That did the ex-~slaves expect from freedom? Forty acres and a mule? A distribution of the land of their masters plantation? 2. 7~hat did the slaves get after freedom? Were any of the plantations actually divided up? Did their i~iasters 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? That do they think about the reconstruc tior~ period? 4. Did secret organizations such as the .~u 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 aircurnstances? Did any of their friends ever hold political office? ;~niat do the ex slaves think of the present restricted suffrage? 6. ;~ hat have the ex-slaves been doing in the interim between 1864 and 193?? ~1hat jobs bave they held (in detail)? How are they supported nowadays? r? ~ Jhat do the ex slaves think of the younger generat ion of Negroes and of present conditions? 8. Were there any instances of slave uprisings? 9. 7~ ere any of the ex slaves in yourcommunity living in Virginia at the time of the ~at Turner rebellion? Do they remember anything about it? 10. ; ;hat songs were there of the period? The above sent to: ~dabama, ~~rkansas, Florida, Ga., Kentucky, La., Md., iississippi, ~Mo., N. Car., Okia., S. Car., Tenn., Texas, Virginia, ~? Va . Ohio Kansas Indiana xxxi j.

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xxxi j j M E M O R A N D U M September 8, 193 ? TO : ST.-~ DIRECTORS OF TEL~ FEDERAL ?)RITERS PROJECT FROM : ffE1~TRY 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 infonnation 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 in formation 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 in~portance 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. ~n 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 fo1lo~aing states: Alabama Maryland Tennessee Arkansas Iviississippi Texas Florida Missouri Virginia Georgia N. Carolina West Virginia Kentucky Oklahoma Ohio Louisiana s. Carolina Kansas Tnd iana