Added by MrsKnoetal, blacklikemoi.com, on April 2, 2012.
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Town and country: They offered extraordinary insight into slave life
They provide powerful insight into a part of America’s history that is no longer in living memory – it exists instead in the Library of Congress. One slave said in 1855: ‘Tisn’t he who has stood and looked on, that can tell you what slavery is – ‘tis he who has endured.’
Another man, John W. Fields, 89, said: ‘We were never allowed to go to town and it was not until after I ran away that I knew that they sold anything but slaves, tobacco, and whiskey. Our ignorance was the greatest hold the South had on us. We knew we could run away, but what then? An offender guilty of this crime was subjected to very harsh punishment.’
While there are many reasons as to why these testimonials were collected, one reason was simply the passing of time- by the 1930s, surviving former slaves were old men and women.
The time in which to capture their testimonies was running out, thus putting a sense of urgency to the project. Many of the accounts are deeply troubling, and are powerful reminders of America’s seedy past.
I am weary let me rest: By the time their accounts were taken, many former slaves were well into their 80s and 90s
Town and country: They offered extraordinary insight into slave life
They provide powerful insight into a part of America’s history that is no longer in living memory – it exists instead in the Library of Congress. One slave said in 1855: ‘Tisn’t he who has stood and looked on, that can tell you what slavery is – ‘tis he who has endured.’
Another man, John W. Fields, 89, said: ‘We were never allowed to go to town and it was not until after I ran away that I knew that they sold anything but slaves, tobacco, and whiskey. Our ignorance was the greatest hold the South had on us. We knew we could run away, but what then? An offender guilty of this crime was subjected to very harsh punishment.’
While there are many reasons as to why these testimonials were collected, one reason was simply the passing of time- by the 1930s, surviving former slaves were old men and women.
The time in which to capture their testimonies was running out, thus putting a sense of urgency to the project. Many of the accounts are deeply troubling, and are powerful reminders of America’s seedy past.
We shall overcome: One former slave said: ‘Tisn’t he who has stood and looked on, that can tell you what slavery is – ‘tis he who has endured’
First person accounts: More than 2,000 stories were collected by the WPA
Passing of time: While there are many reasons as to why these testimonials were collected, one reason was simply the passing of time
Government project: By the 1930s, surviving former slaves were old men and women; the time in which to capture their testimonies was running out, thus putting a sense of urgency to the project
