41..0015	.	62
	~ .~	. INTERVIEW

LAURA RAMSEY PARKER

715 Gay St.

Nakhville, Tennessee


~	87 ytars oie. Wuz bawn in slavery. Wuz freed

w‘en de slavery stopped. Mack Ramsey wuz mah rnarster en he wuz sho good ter his slaves. ife treated dem as human bein‘s. Wten he turnodhis slaves ‘loose‘he ~1b dein no money, but gib dem lands, clothin‘ en food ttj] dey could brang in dere fust crop. Ma*daddy ~‘ented a stz‘ip ob lavd ttil he wuz able ter buy de place. He lived- on de saine fer
	merrnyy‘ars.“	~	~	-

~	‘tW‘enI wuz oleertrmff I.:wuz taught ter spin en weav. I bucura-de nuss ter de marster‘s onhiest chile. Soon atter
		I wuz freed, I went tèr ~ but only wuz dere fèr a
	~ .	y‘ar, den I kurn back ter Tennessee en Nashville. I settled

-	. in dis~ house en I‘se bin livin‘ in hit fer ovuh fifty ytars. Dere wuz no uther houses ‘round ‘yer at de time. I own de

place. Hab w~td all mah i~fe seem ter me. At one time I

~ wuz a chambermaid at de Ni~hOiSO~ House ri~w de Tulane en

. later t kurn a s ick nus s ‚ a s e ams tr e s s ‚ dre s s maker but n ow I

~	pieces en sells bed quilts. I does mah own housekeepin‘ en

	washin‘.“	~ .~ .~ ~ ni don‘t member now, veryniuch tbout de Ku Klux Klan. t... ~. . do member dat one nite dey passed ourhome en I grab‘ed a ~ - shotgun en said dat I wuz gwine ter shoot dem of dey kuin on

de place. I membert de Bàttle ob Murfreesbor‘o, but I‘se