Slave Narrative of Jennie Colder

Jennie Colder was born in Georgia on Blatches’ settlement. “Blatches, he kep’s big hotel, too and he kep’ “right smart” slaves. By the time I was old enough to remember anything we was all’ free, but we worked hard. My father and mother died on the settlement.

“I picked cotton, shucked cotton, pulled fodder and corn and done all dat. I plowed with mules. Dis is Jennie Colder, remember dat. Don’t forget it. I done all dat. I plowed with mules and even then the overseer whipped me. I dont know exactly how old I am, but I was born before freedom.”


Surnames:
Blatches, Colder,

Collection:
Federal Writers' Project. WPA Slave Narratives. Web. 2007-2024. The WPA Slave Narratives must be used with care. There is, of course, the problem of confusion in memory resulting from (73+ years) of the participants. In addition, inexperienced interviewers sometimes pursued question lines related to their own interests and perspectives and attempted to capture the colloquialism of the informant's speech. The interviews provide fascinating insight and surprisingly candid information, however.

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