Slave Narrative of Margaret White

Person Interviewed: Margaret White
Location: Dade County, Florida
Age: 84

Margaret White, 6606 18th Ave., Liberty City, Miami, Florida is one of those happy creatures who doesn’t look as if she ever had a care in the world. She speaks good English:

“I am now 84 years old, for I was 13 when the Emancipation Proclamation was made. It didn’t make much difference to me. I had a good home and was treated very nicely.

“My master was John Eckels. He owned a large fruit place near Federal, N.C.

“My father was a tailor and made the clothes for his master and his servants. I was never sold. My master just kept me. They liked me and wouldn’t let me be sold. He never whipped me, for I was a slave, you know, and I had to do just as I was told.

“I worked around the house doing maid’s work. I also helped to care for the children in the home.”


Surnames:
Eckels, White,

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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