‚.	-~	ifiseiseippi Tsdsral Writers ‚
~ *‘j 9 Slave AutobiographieB




Uncle Gus Clark and his aged wife live in a poverty-

~	stricken deserted village about an eighth of a mIle east of Howls on

~	Their old mill cabin, a relic of a forgotten lumber ~ industry, je tumbling down. They received direo~t relief from


I the ERA until May, 1934, when the ERA changed the dole to work I relief. Uncle Gus, determined to have a work card, worked on

j the road with the others until he broke down a few days later

~	and was forced to accept direct relief. Now, neither OE~xs nor

\	Liza is able to work, and the only help available for them la

~[	~the meager State Old Age Assistance. Gus still manages to tend

~their tiny garden.

He gives his storyi

~:	“l‘es gWine On ‘bout eighty—five. ‘At‘s my age now. I was born at Rt~haond, Virginny, but lef‘ dere right afte‘ de

War. Dey had done surrendered den, an‘ my old mar~ter doan ~ have no mo‘ power over us. We was all free an‘ Bos~ turned us loose.

	“My mammy‘s naine was Judy, an‘ my peppy was Bob. Clark was de Boss ‘e name • I doan ‘member my mammy, but pappy was workin‘ on de railroad afte‘ freedom an‘ got killed.
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