Slave Narrative of Ed Allen

Interviewer: Miss Irene Robertson
Person Interviewed: Ed Allen
Location: Des Arc, Ark.

“I know that after freedom they took care of my pa and ma and give em a home long as they lived. Ma died wid young mistress here in Des Arc.

“The present generation is going to the bad. Have dealings wid em, not good to you. Young folks ain’t nice to you like they used to be.

“White boys and colored boys, whole crowd of us used to go in the river down here all together, one got in danger help him out. They don’t do it no more. We used to play base ball together. All had a good time. We never had to buy a ball or a bat. Always had em. The white boys bought them. I don’t know as who to blame but young folk changed.”


Surnames:
Allen,

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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