HIST 339 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Fugitive Slaves In The United States, Harriet Ann Jacobs, Slave Narrative
Document Summary
Let"s talk a bit more about slave narratives--the wpa slave narratives in particular. Works progress administration created around 1935 in response to the great depression. A good portion of our nation"s infrastructure were constructed at this moment; artists were also hired to paint murals and undertake other types of beautification projects. White and black interviewers were sent out across the south to record the memories of former slaves. Folks were also interviewed through the indian pioneer project for similar purposes. The idea of interviewing ex-slaves was really pioneered by black historians; the original directive for the wpa was to record folklore. Charles johnson (fisk u sociologist) interviewed ex-slaves from 1929 in alabama; lawrence. Rettick from kentucky state in 1934 proposed that the fed govt use its funds to undertake such work in interviewing ex-slaves, esp for the sake of giving jobs to unemployed negro college students.
