1
. . ~	4 1 O()~I 3	I NTERVI EV~	• ~	~ ~	76

Sylvia Watkins

411 14th Avenue N.

Nashville, Tennesst~e.

	I‘se said ter be 91 y‘ars oie, I wuz young w‘en de War wuz goin‘

on.	I wuz bawn in Bedford County. Mah mammy wuz named Mariah. She had six chiliun by mah daddy en three by. her fust husband~

	Mah rnissis ~z named Emily Hatchet en de young missises wuz Mittie en Bettie, dey wuz twins. We had good clothes ter w‘ar en w‘en we went ter de table hit wuz loaded wid good food en we could set down en eat our stomachs full. Oh Lawd I wish dein days wuz now so I‘d hab sum good food. Ob..ßourse, we had ter wuk In de fiel‘s en xnek w‘at we et.

	Von we‘d finish our day~s wul our missis would. let us go out en play hide en seek, Puss in de corner, en diff‘ent games.

~.	~- . Mah mammy wuz sold in Virginia w‘enshe wuz a gun. She sezs ~ ~ thou 60 ab~ em wuz put In de road en. druv down .~yer by a slave trader,

~laiç abunch ob cattle. Mab mammy en two ob niah slstahs w‘uz put ona block, sold en carried ter Alabama. We neber ‘yeard fum dem norno‘,

.	. . en dunno whar dey ez.

	I wuz willed ter mah young missis w‘en she ma‘rled. I wuz young en, ob course, she whuped rne,but she wasn‘t mean ter me. I needed

.	eve‘y whupin‘ she eber gib me, cause .1 wuz allus fightin‘ . Mah missis i,~ allus ‘called me her lèttie nig.

-‚~	Mah daddy could only see maki mammy Wednesday en Saturday nites, ~‘:~ en ef‘n he kum wid‘out a pass de pat-rollers would wimp titi er run

I ‚ lin t t I I his t ongue hung o ut • On dem ni t e s we would • si t up en look

I. fer daddy en lots ob times he wuz out ob bref cos e he had run so much. I:. ~ Mahwhite folks had a loom en we wove our own clothes. I wuz nuss L en house g1~l en l‘arned how ter sew~en nit. Mah young missis wuz
~	h





~	~ :-~. ‚ •. ~ -~‘:: -~ .„ -~‚ •„ : •.. ~ ‚~ ‚-~:- ~ .~- ~ ~ : ~ ~ .~t ~ ~