North Carolina Slave Narratives

by Work Projects Administration

The view that slavery could best be described by those who had themselves experienced it personally has found expression in several thousand commentaries, autobiographies, narratives, and interviews with those who "endured." Although most of these accounts appeared before the Civil War, more than one-third are the result of the ambitious efforts of the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to interview surviving ex-slaves during the 1930s. The result of these efforts was the Slave Narrative Collection, a group of autobiographical accounts of former slaves that today stands as one of the most enduring and noteworthy achievements of the WPA. Compiled in seventeen states during the years 1936-38, the collection consists of more than two thousand interviews with former slaves, most of them first-person accounts of slave life and the respondents' own reactions to bondage. The interviews afforded aged ex-slaves an unparalleled opportunity to give their personal accounts of life under the "peculiar institution," to describe in their own words what it felt like to be a slave in the United States. -Norman R. Yetman, American Memory, Library of Congress This paperback edition of selected North Carolina narratives is reprinted in facsimile from the typewritten pages of the interviewers, just as they were originally typed.

Genres: History

168 pages, Paperback

First published June 15, 2006

Reviews

[E · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, whereas to me the Texas edition of this book was 4 stars. Either way, both are difficult and important reads. I don't feel that I received a lot - if any - of first person accounts when learning about slavery and the Civil War in school, so I am very glad that these accounts exist and are accessible to the public.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading Challenge for this month: Non-fiction written by an author from my state...

So I chose this oral history of enslaved people that were born before the Civil War, and freed shortly after. It is my third book from the Federal Writers' Project, and I truly wish everyone could read these personal histories. They are enlightening & frighteningly real, some are funny, most are pictures into the psychology of being enslaved.

[Liz Schimmel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone should read any of the state Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 -1938 as these narratives are interviews with people who were slaves. These are the stories of people who lived through slavery, the truth about this awful time in US history and one that needs to be heeded so it is not repeated.

[Nora Beck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unsanitized dialectical first-person accounts from people born into slavery. Few surprises here, dialect a challenge at times, but definitely to be read.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

An overlooked perspective of understanding the history of slavery and the difference between what happened and what was taught. I’m so very thankful these first-hand accounts were documented. They brought to light so many Emancipation consequences that I had never considered: 

1.) Consequences of releasing illiterate people without property, money, or support 
2.) The loyalty many had to their masters
3.) The diversity of treatment from extreme cruelty to civil 
4.) Fear of the Yankees by many slaves

This was an insightful reading experience that everyone should read.

[Susan Molloy · Rating 5 out of 5]

✒️ This is part of a series of interviews the United States government (under the WPA) conducted with former servants in North Carolina during 1936-38 (during The Great Depression). It is interesting to read the recollections of these former servants and the events they experienced. Excellent for my research projects.

📕Published — 1941. In the public domain.

જ⁀🟢Part I e-book is on: ρ𝕣ꪮ𝕛ꫀᥴ𝕥 ᧁꪊ𝕥ꫀꪀ᥇ꫀ𝕣ᧁ.
જ⁀🟢Part II e-book is on: ρ𝕣ꪮ𝕛ꫀᥴ𝕥 ᧁꪊ𝕥ꫀꪀ᥇ꫀ𝕣ᧁ.
༺༻༺༻✬༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻✬༺༻༺༻

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an amazing book - incredibly insightful with immense historical relevance. The initial difficulty with reading the work due to edit markings is easily overcome.

However, I regret that they stopped the published work at the end of the 'B's.

[Yaaresse · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first encountered some of these in a college class while studying oral history methods. Over the years, I've managed to read the rest of them. Fascinating stuff.