Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from The Federal Writers' Project

by Work Projects Administration (Editors)

A multivolume set of slave narratives collected by the Federal Writers' Project in 1936-1398.

ebook

First published January 1, 1936

Reviews

[J. Boo]

Slave narratives collected in the 1930s. This is a series of multiple volumes, organized by state.

A few selections regarding education are here (from a group that really likes Noah Webster's Blue Back Speller, which features fairly prominently):

https://thephonicspage.org/On%20Phoni...

Overall, this seems an interesting mix, with some in thick dialect:

"When I wuz ‘bout eight years old, dey ‘lowed it wuz high time I wuz a larnin’ somethin’, and’ I wuz sont to de little log schoolhouse down in de woods. De onliest book I had wuz just a old blue back speller. Us took corn an’ tatoes ‘lang an’ cooked ‘em for dinner, for den us had to stay all day at school."

And others in a different thick dialect, that of the highly literate nineteenth century:

Boys and girls, grasp these golden opportunities which are now extended you from the school room. "Unlearned and ignorant" as I was I came along that way until the present time. My readers have better chances than I had. So I hope that they will make good use of their time and make my heart glad to see them setting their marks high and preparing themselves for the Great Beyond where all must go. Thither all nations will be called before the mighty judgment seat of their Ruler of the universe to give account for the deeds done in this world. My prayer for the reader is, that they may make strong, useful, wise and Christian men and women, and at the end of time meet their God in peace

Available on Gutenberg.

[Deb]

Didn't finish them all. Just removing from my reading list for now. Such a wealth of historical information. I will gladly resume some time.

[Valerie]

This is a long series, which was scanned and uploaded by the Library of Congress as part of Project Gutenberg.

Having only seen the cover picture so far, I can still already say that one could wish these narratives were collected earlier. By 1936 the youngest of the people who were 'born in slavery' would have been at least 71 years old, and their memories were probably sanded and softened by time. There would have been storytelling sessions, of course: most families have those. But firsthand memories would have, as my uncle used to say 'grown shaggy'.

Still, it was a worthwhile undertaking. It will take a long time to get through, because it's more than a dozen volumes. But if I take it a few pages at a time, I'll probably get through it: some day.

[Karen]

* Understanding Oppression: African American Rights (Then and Now)

Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938 #slavery

http://teachinghistory.org/history-co...