Between 1936 and 1938, the Works Progress Administration sponsored a Federal Writers’ Project dedicated to chronicling the experience of slavery as remembered by former slaves. African-American men and women who were born into slavery were interviewed by WPA workers. Their stories were recorded, transcribed, and combined into one of the largest oral history collections in American history.

Assignment:

Step 1: Go to the following site: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writer’s Project 1936-1938-

Look through as much as you can. This includes all the articles/essays provided under Articles and Essaysas well as all of the sub-pages provided under the header of “An Introduction to the WPA Slave Narratives”  There is SO MUCH good information in here. You will get a lot out of the additional research! It is very important to get a full understanding of this entire project.
Step 2: Select a slave narrative to read at one of the following sites:

Step 3: Construct your essay (please write in paragraph form and use complete sentences) by answering the following questions about the narrative you selected:

Who did you select?
How old were they? Where were they from?
What did they talk about?
Was their account a more optimistic or pessimistic (positive or negative) account of their past?
What can you learn from this transcript about slavery? What can you learn from this transcript about the Great Depression? (Note: Saying anything along the lines of “the source didn’t mention the Great Depression” is NOT an acceptable answer to this question. If you can’t find an answer – dig deeper)
Do you think it is a legitimate source to study history from?
Can you think of any factors that may cause these not to be a legitimate source?
What is your overall opinion about using the slave narratives to study from?