In the 1930's, thousands of former American slaves were interviewed in every southern state and in a few northern ones. They ranged from their seventies to over one hundred years of age. Tens of thousands of pages of these interviews are stored in about four archives across America.
In I WAS A SLAVE, the dictated words of the ex-slaves remain as they spoke them -- virtually unedited and usually in southern dialect. Included are their photographs and photos of real slave cabins and other artifacts used during slavery.
Except for a few explanatory pages, each book remains in their own words -- not rewritten. In their first-hand accounts, they tell what really happened during American slavery . Their words are amazing, tragic, hysterically funny, wise, highly educational, and spellbinding. This is a must-read series of books.
EXCERPTS from Book 1
BETTY POWERS: “’Twas lak [It was like] a town wid de diffe’nt businesses. Thar am de blacksmith shop, shoe shop, carpenter shop, de milk house, de marster had ’bout 100 milk cows, de weavin’ room, de gin, an’ de feed mill. ... De cullud fo’ks lives in de cabins. ’Twas called de quatahs [quarters]. Now, in each cabin lives one fam’ly. ’Twas de father, mother an’ de chilluns. Thar am ’bout as many chilluns as thar am grown-ups. Ise can shut my eyes now, an’ see dem rows of cabins. Thar am three rows, an’ de rows am ’bout ha’f a mile long. Ever’ fam’ly does its own cookin’. Mammy, Pappy, an’ their 12 chilluns lives in our cabin, so Mammy have to cook fo’ 14 people, ’sides her field work. ... De marster am a sweet, fine man. ’Twas his wife an’ de overseer dat am tough. Dat womens had no mercy. She am a devil. Gosh fo’ mighty, how Ise hates her! Yous see dem long ears Ise have? Well, dat’s f’om de pullin’ dey gits f’om her. Ise am wo’kin’ ’round de house [when she was a child], keepin’ flies off de fo’ks, gittin’ wautah [water] and sich [such]. Fo’ ever’thin’ she don’t lak [like], ’twas a ear-pullin’ Ise gits. ’Twas pull, pull, an’ some mo’ pull ever’ time she comes neah me.”
FLORENCE NAPIER: “Ise sho' 'joy [I surely enjoyed] myse'f on de old plantation an' weuns all had a good time. Allus have plenty to eat. Marster use to says, 'De cullud fo'ks [The colored folk] raised de food an' dey's 'titled [and they are entitled] to all dey wants.' Same wid de clothes. W'en de marster says de cullud fo'ks raised de food, 'twas true fo' sho'. Ever'thin' on de place weuns raised right dere. All de meat, veg'tables, co'n, fruit, an' sich, an' all de cloth an' clothes am made right thar. No, sar, 'twarn't much de marster have to buy.”
WILLIAM MOORE: “We had a purty hard time to make out and was hongry [hungry] lots of times. Marse Tom didn't feel called on to feed his hands [slaves] any too much. I 'members I had a cravin' for victuals [food] all the time. I'd take lunches to the field hands and they'd say, 'Lawd, Gawd, [Lord, God,] it ain't 'nough [isn't enough] to stop the grip in you belly.”
MARY REYNOLDS: “The times I hated most was pickin' cotton when the frost was on the [cotton] bolls. My hands would get so sore that they would crack open and bleed. We would have a little fire in the fields and iffen the ones with tender hands couldn't stan' it no longer, we would run and warm our hands a little bit.”
JACOB BRANCH: “Slavery, one to 'nother, was purty rough [was pretty rough = was very difficult]. Every plantation have to answer for itself.”
*BOOK SERIES
The I WAS A SLAVE Book Collection is a series that will have 24 books. Currently, six books are available:
ALL SIX BOOKS in The I WAS A SLAVE Book Collection
I WAS A SLAVE: Book 1: Descriptions of Plantation Life
I WAS A SLAVE: Book 2: The Lives of Slave Men
I WAS A SLAVE: Book 3: The Lives of Slave Women
I WAS A SLAVE: Book 4: The Breeding of Slaves
I WAS A SLAVE: Book 5: The Lives of Slave Children
I WAS A SLAVE: Book 6: Slave Auctions
Each separate book contains the subject matter that relates to the subtitle. For example, in Book 1, many dozens of former American slaves tell about the details of life on plantations. They talk about their masters, their punishments, their family relationships, their secrets, and details that only they knew.
Also included are several full-life stories that are completely in their own words, too.
To Educators: Only in this series can information be found about SPECIFIC subjects compiled into one separate book. No longer do you need to read thousands of pages to find details in the WPA slave narratives about the one subject that you want. We have done the work for you.
For a list of upcoming titles, click here.
I WAS A SLAVE: Book 1: Descriptions of Plantation Life
Price: $8.95
