.	“One reason Marse Morgan thought 80 much o‘ me, dey say

I was a right peart young‘n‘ an‘ oaugJit on to anything pretty quick.

Marster would teil nie, ‘Loosanna, if you keep yo‘ ears open an‘ tell

me what de darkies talk ‘bout, dey‘].l be somp‘n‘ good in it for you.‘

(He meant for me to listen when dey‘d talk ‘bout runnin‘ off an‘ such.) t d stay ‚ ràun ‚ de old. folks an ‚ make lak I was a-playin ‚ • All de time I, d be a—listenin‘ • Den I‘ d go an‘ teil Marster what I hear‘ d. But all de time I mus‘ a..had a right smart mind, ‘cause I‘d play ‘ro~‘m‘ de white folks an‘ hear what dey‘d say an‘ den go tell de Niggers. ‘~..Don‘t gu.ess de marster ever thought ‘bout me dom‘ dat.

	ni was born an‘ bred ‘bout seven miles from Tuscaloosa,

Alabama. I was de baby 0±‘ de ~em‘ly. De house was on de right han‘ side

o‘ de road. to town. I had four sisters an‘ one brother dat I knows of.

Dey was named Classie, îennie, Florence, Allie, an‘ George. My name was

Joanna, but dey done drap de Jo part a long time ago.

	“I don‘t recollec‘ what my ma‘s maunny an‘ pappy was named~ but I know dat her pappy was a full blooded Injuri. (I guess dat is where I gits my brown dolor. ) • Her maniny was a full blooded ‚ African though, a great big woman.

	.	ni reoolle~ a tale my manmiy toi ‚ me ‚ bout my gra‘ pa. When he took up wi. a n~‘ graxi ‘mammy de white man what owned her sa~r ‚ ‚ If you want to stay wid her I‘ll give you a home if you‘ll work for me lak de Niggers do • t He ‚ greed ‚ t cause he thought a heap ‘ his Black Woman. Da‘ s ~at he called her. ) Ever‘ thing was ail right ‚ tU. one o‘ dem uppity overseers tried to act smart. He say he gwine a—beat him. My grau‘ pe~py went home d~t night an‘ barred de door. When de overseer en‘


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