In the 1930s, thousands of former American slaves were interviewed and their narratives were housed in archives. I WAS A SLAVE contains the ex-slaves' dictated words primarily in southern dialect along with photographs. Book 3: The Lives of Slave Women is filled with eye-witness accounts of the ways that women were used during the time of American slavery. They tell about their joys and sorrows of family life, tell details that the slave owner never guessed, and showed their resilience as they tended to the Big House, the fields, and the cabins.