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.
Person Interviewed: James Lucas Location: Natchez Mississippi Place of Residence: Natchez, Adams County MS Date of Birth: October 11, 1833 James Lucas, ex-slave of Jefferson Davis, lives at Natchez, Adams County. Uncle Jim is small, wrinkled, and slightly stooped. His woolly hair is white, and his eyes very bright. He wears a small grizzled mustache. […]
Person Interviewed: James Cornelius Location: Magnolia, Mississippi Place of Birth: Franklin Louisiana Age: 90+ James Cornelius lives in Magnolia in the northwestern part of the town, in the Negro settlement. He draws a Confederate pension of four dollars per month. He relates events of his life readily. “I does not know de year I was
Interviewer: Lauana Creel Person Interviewed: James Childress Location: Evansville, Indiana Place of Birth: Nashville, Tennessee Date of Birth: 1860 Place of Residence: 312 S.E. Fifth Street, Evansville, Indiana Ex-Slave stories District #5 Vanderburgh County Lauana Creel JAMES CHILDRESS’ STORY 312 S.E. Fifth Street, Evansville, Indiana From an interview with James Childress and from John Bell
Interviewer: Hallie Miller Person Interviewed: James Campbell Location: Gallipolis, Ohio Place of Birth: Monroe County WV Date of Birth: January 15, 1852 “Well, I’se bo’n Monro’ County, West Virginia, on January 15, 1852, jes’ few miles from Union, West Virginia.” “My mammy wuz Dinnah Alexander Campbell an’ my pappy wuz Levi Campbell an’ dey bof
Person Interviewed: James Calhart James Location: Baltimore, Maryland Place of Residence: 2460 Druid Hill Ave., Baltimore, MD Reference: Personal interview with James Calhart James, ex-slave, at his home, 2460 Druid Hill Ave., Baltimore. “My father’s name was Franklin Pearce Randolph of Virginia, a descendant of the Randolphs of Virginia who migrated to South Carolina and
Interviewer: Sarah H. Hall Person Interviewed: James Bolton Location: Athens, Georgia Age: 85 “It never was the same on our plantation atter we done laid Mistess away,” said James Bolton, 85 year old mulatto ex-slave. “I ain’t never forget when Mistess died—she had been so good to every nigger on our plantation. When we got
Interviewer: Samuel S. Taylor Person Interviewed: James Bertrand Age: 68 Location: 1501 Maple Street, Little Rock, Arkansas [HW: “Pateroles” Botlund Father] “I have heard my father tell about slavery and about the Ku Klux Klan bunch and about the paterole bunch and things like that. I am sixty-eight years old now. Sixty-eight years old! That
Interviewer: Mary D. Hudgins Person Interviewed: James Baker Location: With daughter who own home at 941 Wade St., Hot Springs, Arkansas Age: 81 The outskirts of eastern Hot Springs resemble a vast checkerboard—patterned in Black and White. Within two blocks of a house made of log-faced siding—painted a spotless white and provided with blue shutters
Interviewer: Mrs. Bernice Bowden Person interviewed: James Davis 1112 Indiana St. (owner), Pine Bluff, Ark. Age: 96 Occupation: Cotton farmer “This is what’s left of me. How old? Me? Now listen and let me tell you how ’twas. Old mistress put all our ages in the family Bible, and I was born on Christmas morning
G. Monroe Dist. 4 Jefferson County Interviewer: G. Monroe Person Interviewed: Jack Simms Location: Madison, Indiana Place of Birth: Kentucky SLAVE STORY MR. JACK SIMMS’ STORY Personal Interview Mr. Simms was born and raised on Mill Creek Kentucky, and now lives in Madison Indiana on Poplar Street diagonally North West of the hospital. He was
Interviewer: Henrietta Carlisle Person Interviewed: Jack Atkinson Interviewed: August 21, 1936 Location: Griffin, Georgia Rt. D Griffin, Georgia, Interviewed August 21, 1936 [MAY 8 1937] “Onct a man, twice a child,” quoted Jack Atkinson, grey haired darkey, when being interviewed, “and I done started in my second childhood. I useter be active as a cat,
Person Interviewed: J. W. Stinnett Place of Birth: Grayson County, Prairie Grove, Texas Date of Birth: 1863 What with raising nine grandchildren whose mammy is dead, this old head of mine has too many troubles to remember much about them slave days, but anyways I was born in 1863, at a place in Grayson County, Texas,
Interviewer: Bernice Bowden Person Interviewed: J. H. Beckwith Age: 68 Location: 619 North Spruce Street, Pine Bluff, Arkansas “No ma’m I was not born in the time of slavery. I was sixty-eight last Friday. I was born November 18, 1870 in Johnson County, North Carolina. “My mother was born in Georgia and her name was
Interviewer: Henry Grant Person Interviewed: Isom Roberts Location: Columbia, South Carolina Place of Residence: 1226 Waverly Street, Columbia, SC Age: 80 Ex-Slave 80 Years Old Isom Roberts rents one room at 1226 Waverly Street, Columbia, S.C., and lives alone. However frail he appears, he is able to support himself by working in the yards about
Interviewer: Mrs. Edith S. Hibbs Person Interviewed: Isabell Henderson Location: 1121 Rankin St., Wilmington, North Carolina Age: 83-84 Story Of Isabell Henderson, Negro I’ll be 84 years old come August 9. My gran’-daughter can tell you what year it was I was born I don’ ‘member but we has it down in the Bible. I
Interviewer: Edith Wyatt Moore Person Interviewed: Isaac Stier Location: Natchez, Mississippi Date of Birth: Jefferson County MS “Miss, my name is Isaac Stier, but folks calls me ‘Ike.’ I was named by my pappy’s young Marster an’ I aint never tol’ nobody all o’ dat name. It’s got twenty-two letters in it. It’s wrote but
Person Interviewed: Issac Adams Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma Place of Birth: Louisiana Age: 87 I was born in Louisiana, way before the War. I think it was about ten years before, because I can remember everything so well about the start of the War, and I believe I was about ten years old. My Mammy belonged
Interviewer: Viola B. Muse Person Interviewed: Irene Coates Location: Jacksonville, Florida Immediately after slavery in the United States, the southern white people found themselves without servants. Women who were accustomed to having a nurse, maid, cook and laundress found themselves without sufficient money to pay wages to all these. There was a great amount of
Person Interviewed: Ida Henry Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Place of Birth: Marshall, Texas Date of Birth: 1854 Age: 83 Occupation: House Girl I was born in Marshall, Texas, in 1854. Me mother was named Millie Henderson and me father Silas Hall. Me mother was sold in South Carolina to Mister Hall, who brought her to
Interviewer: Travis Jordan Person Interviewed: Ida Adkins Location: Durham, North Carolina Age: 79 Ex-slave 79 years. [TR note: Numerous hand written notations and additions in the following interview (i.e. wuz to was; er to a; adding t to the contractions.) Made changes where obvious without comment. Additions and comments were left as notation, in order
