Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States

United States. Work Projects AdministrationProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.2

Word count: 193K words
Chapters: 20

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United StatesAuthor: United States. Work Projects Administration,Language: English, Class: E300: History: America: Revolution to the Civil War (1783-1861), Release Date: Aug 18, 2004

Editor's review

Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States gathers oral histories of enslaved Black people collected under the auspices of the U.S. Works Progress Administration, an important compilation of first-hand folk memory. Its value lies not in literary polish but in its testimonial quality: numerous interviewees, speaking as eyewitnesses or descendants, recount life under slavery, labor, family, and experiences before and after emancipation, preserving everyday details and dialect expressions easily overlooked by official history. Readers will feel the power of the historical record, but should also recognize that oral-history compilation is shaped by interviewers, recorders, and the frameworks of the era, with limitations in perspective and transcription. The book is suitable as supplementary material for American history, African American studies, and social memory studies, and for readers with a serious interest in the history of slavery; for readers seeking only storytelling narrative, however, its loose organization and special transcribed language make it demanding.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students and scholars of American history, African American history, and social memory studies
Serious readers interested in oral histories of slavery and folk memory
History enthusiasts needing primary materials to support teaching or writing

Not a good fit for

General casual readers who prefer coherent plots and literary narrative
Beginners lacking historical background who hope to read through quickly

Reading tips

First read relevant historical background and explanations of oral-history methods before entering specific narratives, to avoid taking passages out of context.
Read selectively by region or theme, focusing on threads such as labor, family, religion, and memories of emancipation.
While reading, note traces of interviewing and transcription, and compare oral content with historical background to form a critical understanding.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Were these narratives written directly by the enslaved themselves?

Not entirely. The book was collected under the auspices of the U.S. Works Progress Administration and is an oral-history compilation, usually recorded by interviewers from interviewees' accounts. The texts therefore went through transcription and editing and bear the marks of interviewing and compilation; readers should keep in mind their nature as oral history.

Is this book suitable for historical research?

It can be used as supplementary material, but with caution. Oral history can add everyday experience and overlooked perspectives, yet it is also affected by memory, interview circumstances, and recorders. It is best used alongside academic studies and other archives, not as the sole basis.

What should readers note about the language?

The book is in English, and oral-history compilations often preserve dialect and colloquial expression; some transcriptions may differ from standard English. Readers need to adjust to this style and understand it as a feature of folk oral records.

Why is it said to be more than just a history book?

It also has the character of social memory and folk documentation, recording ordinary people's ways of speaking, emotions, and details of life. For humanities readers studying how memory is preserved, narrated, and compiled, it also offers methodological reference value.

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About the author

United States. Work Projects Administration Author

The United States Work Projects Administration was a federal public works agency established in the United States in the 1930s, and its Federal Writers' Project organized the collection, compilation, and publication of a large body of oral history materials. The library holds 34 of its works, most of them centered on African American slave narratives; the representative Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States series was assembled from interviews with formerly enslaved people and their descendants. These texts preserve, in the interviewees' own voices, details of life under slavery, folk songs, and dialect expressions, making them both valuable historical sources and works of plain folk literature. As public information about the agency is limited, this note introduces only its editorial direction and the subject matter of its works.