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WPA Ex-Slave Interviews/ Narratives
- Slave Narratives From the Federal Writers' Project (Gale) During the Great Depression, the Federal Writers' Project, which was part of the Works Progress Administration, sent out-of-work writers to seventeen states to conduct interviews with former enslaved people. The writers collected over 2,000 narratives, and the result was the Slave Narrative Collection.
- Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938 (Library of Congress) Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938 contains more than 2,300 first-person accounts of slavery and 500 black-and-white photographs of former slaves.
The American Slave by
Vol. 2-17 consist of transcriptions of narratives prepared by the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936-38, and deposited in the Library of Congress, where they were assembled under title: Slave narratives, a folk history of slavery in the United States from interviews with former slaves.
Call Number: Neilson Library: E441 .A58ISBN: 0837133149Publication Date: 1972-10-20
Weevils in the Wheat by
A collection of interviews of former slaves, conducted by the Virginia Federal Writers' Project in 1936 and 1937.
Bibliography: p. [391]-394.
Call Number: Smith College AnnexISBN: 0813905966Publication Date: 1976-01-01
Additional Primary Sources
- Accessible Archives This link opens in a new window Contains 19th century American newspapers (including African American), US county histories, and notable magazines (Godey's Ladies Book, Frank Leslie's Illustrated Weekly, etc.)
- American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals [EBSCO] 1684-1912 This link opens in a new window Digitized American magazines & journals, detailing American history & culture. Topics include women's issues, health, science, the history of slavery, industry & professions, religion, the arts, etc.
- American Periodicals [ProQuest] 18th-early 20th Century This link opens in a new window Combines American Periodical Series (APS) and American Periodicals from the Center for Research Libraries, offering full text access to 18th-early 20th century American magazines and journals.
- Early American Imprints, 1639-1820 This link opens in a new window Books, pamphlets, and broadsides on every aspect of American life, based on Charles Evan's American Bibliography and the continuation by Shaw-Shoemaker.
- The Making of the Modern World [Gale] 1450-1945 This link opens in a new window Covers social history, early commerce, trade, colonization, industry, political systems, revolutions, slavery, exploration, philosophy, and more.
- Sabin Americana [Gale] 1500-1926 This link opens in a new window Based on Sabin's Bibliotheca Americana: A Dictionary of Books Relating to America from Its Discovery to the Present Time. Full text books, pamphlets, broadsides & documents, from sermons & tracts to legislation & literature. Covers all the Americas.
- Slavery & Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive [Gale] This link opens in a new window Contains primary source documents from the United States & Europe, as well as other parts of the world; formats include antebellum books, pamphlets, newspapers, periodicals, images, and extensive archival material.
- Documenting the American South (Univ. of North Carolina) See in particular North American Slave Narratives (link below).
- US Freedmen's Bureau Project Will launch in a few months. Watch for additional records that will be available for indexing on DiscoverFreedmen.org, if you'd like to participate in this crowd-sourced project.
- Voices from the Days of Slavery (American Memory, Library of Congress) 7 hours of recorded interviews, in which 23 interviewees, born 1823-1860's, discuss how they felt about slavery, slaveholders, coercion, the family, & freedom.
- Slavery in America and the World: History, Culture & Law [HeinOnline] This link opens in a new window Essential legal materials on slavery in the US & the English-speaking world: All statutes passed by each colony & state on slavery, plus all federal statutes; all reported state & federal cases on slavery; English-language legal commentary before 1920; pamphlets & books on slavery from the 19th century; relevant Congressional debates; and supporting books & law review articles.