'Born In Slavery' Project Offers Close Look At Last American Slaves (PHOTOS)

"Tisn't he who has stood and looked on, that can tell you what slavery is -- 'tis he who has endured," said one of the former slaves interviewed for the Federal Writers’ Project of the Work Progress Administration. They're undoubtedly sentiments shared by the more than 2,300 other men and women born into slavery, whose first-person accounts were collected for the project some 70 years after they'd been set free.

Compiled in 17 states between 1936 and 1938 and housed in a seventeen-volume collection at the Library of Congress, the project, entitled "Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves," offers a sobering look at life after slavery, including 500 black-and-white photographs and words, many of which are written phonetically, that describe slave life and the respondents' own reactions to bondage.

"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," said John W. Fields, a Civil War-era slave who went on to work as a domestic in Lafayette, Indiana.

"Our ignorance was the greatest hold the South had on us," Fields said, describing he and fellow slaves' great desire to learn how to read and write. "We knew we could run away, but what then?"

Tempie Cummins recalls white children's attempts to teach her how to read, but says she wasn't able to learn much since work demands were so great.

The accounts, which range from startling descriptions of cruelty to almost nostalgic views of plantation life, are said to have been collected with a sense of urgency during the project's two-year run, before the surviving former slaves passed away.

At the time of their interviews, many reported being well into their 80s and 90s, some were even past 100.

PHOTOS:

Loading Slideshow

• Walter Rimm, Age 80

• William Moore, Age 82

• James Cape, Age 100+

• Tempie Cummins, Age Unknown

• Charley Williams, Age 92

• Sarah Frances Shaw Graves, Age 87

• Sarah Gudger, Age 121

• John W. Fields, Age 89

• Lizzie Hill, Age 94

• Bill and Ellen Thomas, Ages 88 and 81

From our partners

• Selita Ebanks Gets Back To Werk With New S&M Style Editorial. Peep The Pics! - styleblazer.com
• Ahmad 'Real' Givens Of VH1's 'Real Chance Of Love' In The Fight Of His Life After Stage 4 Cancer Diagnosis - madamenoire.com
• 5 (Fun) Things You Should Know About March Madness Right Now - colorlines.com

Comments

[fauxmccoy]

11:05 AM on 01/02/2013

this is an absolute gold mine i am delighted to stumble upon and i am now reading the collection. i look forward to sharing with some black friends and discussing. what saddens me is that this material has been available since the 1930s but was never presented in any academic setting and i have a degree in anthropology. i am not black, but my education leads me to pursue such a volume of work with avid interest and empathy to my fellow man.

that this was produced in the 30s, when my parents were children gives me great pause. my father in utah would likely have had very little experience with any former slaves, but my mother who is from atlanta surely would have, yet i have never heard a word about it from her. in spite of progress that has been made, the stories of those who lived in bondage have been systematically 'whitewashed' to make our history more palatable to our young. there is absolutely no replacement for first person accounts of the experience and i am glad to find it.

[Texasstar94]

11:23 PM on 05/03/2013

Its awesome book!

[Mumngigi]

10:19 AM on 01/02/2013

Amazing photos, I would love to show this to my daughter so she can see how important an education is and why she should not take it for granted and why she should honor her ancestors.

[papapj]

08:46 AM on 01/02/2013

I think what a lot of people, Black and White, fail to take into account is that slavery was not solely an American institution. It shaped the history of many a Caribbean and Central/South American nation and is, indeed, central to the history of the Americas. It's not just a Black American thing....

[reshea1950]

10:21 AM on 01/02/2013

Glad you pointed that out.

What a 'New World' this must have been (meant in a terrifying way) in the 17th/18th/19th centuries for anyone that was not of the 'elite classes' in the Americas. Slavery being the norm. Being 'indentured' to someone being the norm. And both enforced through 'justice' systems if either 'class of person' should want to engage in 'free will' and run...

[detmem]

10:39 AM on 01/02/2013

True, I had an opportunity to visit a slave museum in Brazil. My understanding is that because it was so much cheaper to export slaves to Brazil than to the US, slavery there was in many ways worse than in the US

[Jay Daterman]

04:27 AM on 01/02/2013

I am glad these pictures and messages from the former slaves are available for us to learn from. I hope to make it to the Southern Poverty Law Center so I can look at information they have about the horrid convict lease system or better yet to work there so I can help fight against the for profit prison system and other injustices people are forced to endure.

[woombie]

02:24 AM on 01/02/2013

movie came out with Jamie Fox about him being a bounty hunter during slavery looking for his wife and how much love that he had for her. Spike Lee complained about the movie but sometimes it is good for movies on slavery come out. It seems the word slavery doesnt want to be discussed

[detmem]

10:36 AM on 01/02/2013

The Fox film isn't a movie about slavery, it is a take on the spagetti western that is set during slavery. Slavery is simply the backdrop for the movie, not to say that it is not worth seeing however.

[woombie]

02:20 AM on 01/02/2013

My father was borned in late 1800s. He was in World War I. His parents died before my birth but my dad told us some scary and happy stories. He didnt finished school because he had to work. I am proud of him for being my dad and standing up for his rights.

[Hoodooman]

01:14 AM on 01/02/2013

These pictures are great. Going through the pictures and audio at the library of congress web site really sucks you in.

[ginadeoliveira2008]

02:18 PM on 01/02/2013

Thank you! You mentioned a link!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Hoodooman]

02:23 PM on 01/02/2013

It happens. :)

[ginadeoliveira2008]

02:22 PM on 01/02/2013

Idon't know how to thank you. I've been to the site! There's a precious treasure to be heard!

[Ella Rosier]

11:34 PM on 01/01/2013

These photos are classic! Sad, naturally, but so very rich with history and it makes me proud of from how far we have come as a race. My mother has dozens of tattered photos of her grandparents and great-grandparents at different periods once they were forced to relocate on reservations, but when it comes to learning about my maternal legacy, it's like pulling teeth! My father's grandmother was born into slavery and recalled to him how her mother would have to stifle emotions when she felt the Holy Spirit move her, because blacks were not allowed to praise the Lord.

[Ella Rosier]

11:45 PM on 01/01/2013

Lord, Jesus, that was a typo lol. I meant *PATERNAL

[ofcs27]

01:39 AM on 01/02/2013

It's all good, we'll charge it to your head and not to your heart. Keep writing!

[r3cj2]

10:16 PM on 01/01/2013

that dress she's wearing in the photo was popular back in those days,, my grandmother wore the same type dress and color,,, she was born 1895......

[ofcs27]

01:39 AM on 01/02/2013

So did my grandmother born in 1887

[doctor4kids]

07:04 PM on 01/01/2013

"Our ignorance was the greatest hold the South had on us" What a wonderful quote and so true.

The WPA did so much more than build schools and bridges. It helped preserve an important part of American history that might have otherwise been lost.

[Jay Daterman]

03:56 AM on 01/02/2013

A good example of government doing something business would never have been likely to do.

[olivesolive]

06:57 PM on 01/01/2013

This is riveting history. It's sad, but entirely predictable, that so many people would respond with such remarkable ignorance. Slavery has existed for thousands of years in places throughout the globe, and it continues to exist today (including in suburbs across this country, where adult men traffic in children). But none of that diminishes the fact that the institutional (read: legal and government sanctioned) slavery that existed in this country for over four hundred years had a tremendous impact on this country and the people in it. Various industries, college endowments, state treasuries, individual citizens, etc. benefited enormously from slave labor. That matters. It is relevant history, even if it makes people uncomfortable. It matters that slave labor helped create the economy of a country in which people, even then, enjoyed touting their superiority to other countries based on their supposedly unique love of liberty. If you're one of those silly cultural narcissists who are made uncomfortable by even simple pictures of enslaved people--this history matters more than your petty discomfort.

[deacongtb911]

05:10 PM on 01/01/2013

A great piece of American History. Lest we forget

[Lafayette Dana Smyre]

01:29 PM on 01/01/2013

As a kid I met three people who lived in slavery.One of them a woman who was blind and bed ridden yet still clear in mind Didn't know then that she had been a slave.My Grandmother felt it important for me to get to know Mrs. King. Remember sitting with my Grandmother by Mrs. King's bedside,them chatting ,me listening.
Another person I met, better said was yelled at by ,lived in a small town called Moody ,Texas. This coincident occurred 1963. The reason she remains etched in memory has to do with her dwelling and a large pot. The structure in which she slept,was small and windowless. In the space where one might expect to find a door, were layers of make shift curtains. Just outside the shanty resting on large stones stood a three legged cast iron pot beneath it an open fire.She made her living by washing.
Finally the third person a member from church,sat in the honor row every Sunday service.

[Texasstar94]

08:31 PM on 01/01/2013

Welcome my fellow Texan!!! Your words of remembrance are beautiful!! .God bless you.

[ginadeoliveira2008]

02:26 PM on 01/02/2013

Thank you so much for a heartfelt piece of your personal History and the History of this country and your people!

[Ray Mehan]

12:53 PM on 01/01/2013

Sad to say slavery still exists today in many African countries.

[dedwardsjr]

05:31 PM on 01/01/2013

North African countries. Not the region of Africa my ancestors originated. If you are going to act superior with your clueless comments,try at least getting your facts straight.

[Ray Mehan]

05:37 PM on 01/01/2013

You ancestors were complicit in the slave trade.

[joe1964]

08:25 PM on 01/01/2013

Whoa there! Somebody has a heck of a chip on their shoulder. His statement was accurate, if broad. Slave labor also exists in Dubai, even if they don't call it that. The Chinese don't call it slave labor when they have criminals work in their factories, nor do we, yet it is still slave labor. I don't think anybody can pat themselves on the back for getting rid of the 'peculiar institution' because, in many cases, we have only changed the name.

[Lechiffre]

05:51 PM on 01/01/2013

For the last time , africa has 54 nations and there isn't a single nation where slavery is legal and common. Its a continent about twice the size of america and I will challenge you to find a slave auction market in sierra leone or Nigeria of you can. There are roughly 700 millions of people in the entire african continent.

There are people who are being held against their will across the globe , eastern european has millions of them in the form of pimped street workers.India has plenty of those too.

The one slavery you should be concerned with today is
those jails across the nations where millions of black males spend decades of their lives.Alll those private prisons love their black males young , tall and strong .

[joe1964]

08:28 PM on 01/01/2013

Some points I agree, some I do not. The forced labor of convicts is astonishing in its betrayal of our Democratic ideals. I agree wholeheartedly.
There may not be slave 'markets' in Africa, but I wonder how many 'guest workers' from India and Thailand that come to Dubai and have their passports seized and are forced to build the city would call themselves slaves. I wonder how many guest workers in all countries share that distinction?

[Kim Ciszek-Kane]

08:45 PM on 01/01/2013

on point.

[Ray Mehan]

12:51 PM on 01/01/2013

My heart goes out to those who endured slavery ..........

...... but it ended a long time ago

Generations later some people still use it as a crutch.

[juwah]

02:44 PM on 01/01/2013

Yet, the affects of slavery still lingers on today. A crutch? You have know idea!

[Djuan Sherman-Wash]

04:40 PM on 01/01/2013

says the person without the slightest clue as to what they're talking about.