SLAVE NARRATIVES A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves TYPEWRITTEN RECORDS PREPARED BY THE FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT 1936-1938 ASSEMBLED BY THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PROJECT WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SPONSORED BY THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS WASHINGTON 1941 FEDERAL WORKS AGENCY WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Paul Edwards, Administrator Amelie S. Fair, Director, Division of Community Service Programs Mary Nan Gamble, Chief, Public Activities Programs THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PROJECT Official Project No. 165-2-26-7 Work Project No. 540 Mary Nan Gamble, Acting Project Supervisor Francesco M. Bianco, Assistant Project Supervisor B.A. Botkin, Chief Editor, Writers' Unit [Transcriber's Note: The CONTENTS section that follows lists the collection of Slave Narratives; the SELECTED RECORDS listing after the INTRODUCTION lists the nine Administrative Files included in this volume. An identifier has been added to the beginning of each of these Files.] CONTENTS I. ALABAMA II. ARKANSAS III. FLORIDA IV. GEORGIA V. INDIANA VI. KANSAS VII. KENTUCKY VIII. MARYLAND IX. MISSISSIPPI X. MISSOURI XI. NORTH CAROLINA XII. OHIO XIII. OKLAHOMA XIV. SOUTH CAROLINA XV. TENNESSEE XVI. TEXAS XVII. VIRGINIA INTRODUCTION I This collection of slave narratives had its beginning in the second year of the former Federal Writers' Project (now the Writers' Program), 1936, when several state Writers' Projects--notably those of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina--recorded interviews with ex-slaves residing in those states. On April 22, 1937, a standard questionnaire for field workers drawn up by John A. Lomax, then National Advisor on Folklore and Folkways for the Federal Writers' Project[1], was issued from Washington as "Supplementary Instructions #9-E to The American Guide Manual" (appended below). Also associated with the direction and criticism of the work in the Washington office of the Federal Writers' Project were Henry G. Alsberg, Director; George Cronyn, Associate Director; Sterling A. Brown, Editor on Negro Affairs; Mary Lloyd, Editor; and B.A. Botkin, Folklore Editor succeeding Mr. Lomax.[2]