From 1936 to 1938, over 2, 300 former slaves from across the American South were interviewed by writers and journalists under the aegis of the Works Progress Administration. This web site provides an opportunity to read a sample of these narratives, and to see some of the photographs taken at the time of the interviews. The entire collection of narratives can be found in George P. Rawick, ed., The American Slave: A Composite Autobiography (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1972-79).

A slave owner took down the words of his dying slave, as a reproach to the institution of slavery.