Dem Days Was Hell - Recorded Testimonies of Former Slaves from 17 U.S. States: True Life Stories from Hundreds of African Americans in South about Their Life in Slavery and after the Liberation

by Work Projects Administration

Step back in time and meet everyday people from another This edition brings to you the complete collection of hundreds of life stories, incredible vivid testimonies of former slaves from 17 U.S. southern states, including photos of the people being interviewed and their extraordinary narratives. After the end of Civil War in 1865, more than four million slaves were set free. There were several efforts to record the remembrances of the former slaves. The Federal Writers' Project was one such project by the United States federal government to support writers during the Great Depression by asking them to interview and record the myriad stories and experiences of slavery of former slaves. The resulting collection preserved hundreds of life stories from 17 U.S. states that would otherwise have been lost in din of modernity and America's eagerness to deliberately forget the blot on its recent past. Alabama Arkansas Florida Georgia Indiana Kansas Kentucky Maryland Mississippi Missouri North Carolina Ohio Oklahoma South Carolina Tennessee Texas Virginia

Genres: Nonfiction, History

9209 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 2, 2017

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a mother-lode of slave stories, an encyclopedia's worth of short narratives gathered by WPA writers during the great Depression. What a great idea - however, it has some problems. First, all the interviewers seem to be white women working from the same script: ask them where they were when Emancipation happened and don't forget to ask them about Voodoo and ghosts. And the interviewees knew who they were talking to. You can hear the crashing sounds of the things hitting the back of their teeth that they're not going to say to the White folks. There are an awful lot of nice Masters and Missuses here. How I wish Zora Neale Hurston had been in charge of this project! That would have been another book! Still,this one makes for compelling reading.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is not surprising that there is no discussion on this book. The stories speak for themselves on the most horrific episode in history of Western civilization. American prosperity was built by enslaved peoples. Some of the interviewees dissing the younger generation, saying they want everything handed and aren't willing to work - only want to mess around - things now are the same though different.

[Cheryl Davenport · Rating 3 out of 5]

History's marker.

The book was very interesting. It gave a glimpse into what the world has been about. It is a sad comentary.

[Ella glasgow · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are interviews of freed slaves and their opinions of their experiences before and after emancipation. I was especially interested in the people who had stayed with the families because there was mutual love and respect in the relationships.

The majority were glad to be freedmen. They told of the mistreatment they had received both before and after emancipation and didn't sugar cost it.

I encourage everyone to read this book which will enlighten readers about the truth about American slavery. I learned things I had never heard nor read about.

[Audrey C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book a lot of History

This a great book I love reading about my ancestors what they went through how they felt how they survived ,What were thoughts on the religion and this book has a lot of History in it.

[Ann Edwards · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was so much malarkey. These stories read like they were edited by The Daughters of the Confederacy. Everyone was happy and well-treated? No, Ma'am.

I would give it zero stars, if I could.
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[Karen Koppy · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://www.loc.gov/collections/slave...

I was shocked at the number of narratives that extolled the "good ole days" during slavery. I began to question the process of the data collection. This narrative collection is a fascinating collection with a lot of limitations concerning the lack of black interviewers, the varied experience of the interviewers, and accuracy of the testimonies, the time of the collection (during the depression when most everyone experienced financial difficulties), the young ages of the interviewees at the time of reconstruction, etc. Read the above article from the Library of Congress for a good review. I'll be reading this huge collection for some time!!

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just imagine how it was to interview someone who had been a slave???