Leah Gray

April 5,2004

A Biography of Slave Narrative Interviewer Grace McCune: Athens, Georgia

During the New Deal, thousands of people from across the country maintained federal jobs that not only help the American economy but advanced research about American history. Most people are aware that President Franklin D. Roosevelt formed the New Deal to help the United States recover for the Great Depression of the 1930’s by creating federal jobs for numerous unemployed citizens. These jobs were to be appointed and advised by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Part of the WPA was the Federal Arts Project, which gave jobs to musicians, actors, directors, painters and writers that proved that they were poor enough to qualify. These jobs and the work done by the WPA have greatly impacted our current knowledge of American history through intense federally funded research into American history. The purpose of this paper is to explain the history and appropriate analysis of the Slave Narratives, and to illustrate how the documents are useful to studies conducted today through the investigation of interviewer Grace McCune.1

One of the most important insights into American history conducted by the WPA called the Federal Writers’ Project (FWP). This paper will specifically focus on the Slave Narrative Collection. From 1936 to 1938, the FWP interviewed people in seventeen states in an attempt to document the oral history of average people. Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia were the only four Appalachian states that focused their interviews on former slaves and were encouraged to do so by the National Advisor on Folklore and Folkways for the FWP, John A. Lomax.2 The compilation of the nearly three thousand oral histories, pictures and other historic facts from the seventeen states officially began April 1, 1937, which came to be known as the Slave Narrative Collection and is one of the most extensive works conducted by the WPA.3

Historians have numerous concerns about the validity of the Slave Narrative Collection, which should be considered when interpreting the texts. There has been much research published about this subject. Historians suggest questions that one should ask when interpreting the narratives. The questions that should be asked are: who the interviewer is, what are they talking about, why they are talking, and what are the circumstances of the interview? Bearing these questions in mind and the fact that less than 2% of the total number of slaves was interviewed, one should realize the possible misrepresentations of the Slave Narrative Collection.4

The questions asked by the interviewer are important because they provide a consistent insight into the lives of the former slaves. To help the interviewers, Lomax gave instructions about what type of questions to ask and tips as to how to capture the interviewee’s unique dialect. Lomax took great effort to preserve African American oral history by giving interviewers a questionnaire to make sure they asked the appropriate questions and emphasized the accuracy of dialect. The basic format of the interviews is long narratives told by the interviewee, discussing any topic that is on their mind. The interviewer needed to make sure that the interviewee’s ancestry, place and date of birth, family, home, education, occupations and accomplishments, skills or interests, community and religious activities, as well as a description of the informant were precisely recorded through written manuscripts.5 The interviewers were encouraged to make more than one visit to ensure that everything was said and tried to take photographs of the person and of the home.

However, Norman R. Yetman argues that Lomax’s interview strategy was not effective. In review of the Slave Narrative Collection, he suggests that when the questionnaire was followed too closely, the interview was too formal and contrived, leaving out important social contexts. He also points out that most of the time it was not followed closely by the inexperienced writers, allowing the interviewee to ramble on. This would cause the writer to lose their concentration and leave out important information.6

Also important is who the interviewer was and how they were chosen. The FWP chose interviewers based on economic necessity, although there was most certainly a bias. If the writer was chosen out of the numerous applicants, they were assigned to a specific town of a state. Although most interviews were conducted by whites, more than two-fifths of the Appalachian interviews were written by ex-slaves themselves or were collected by black field workers.7 In Georgia there were seven black and twenty-two white interviewers.8 This is a great strength for the validity of the narratives but the majority of white interviews, as we will see, may possibly distort an accurate representation of former black slaves.

Statistical information about the typical slave that was interviewed is also important to the accuracy and validity of the Slave Narratives. The majority of the interviewee’s in the Appalachian were older than ten when they were freed. The vast majority of the interviewee’s had endured fifteen or more years of slavery, which means they were old enough to remember their own experiences and their family oral histories. The gender of the interviewers was almost equally divided, 45% were female and 55% were male. Also noted by Dunaway was the fact that most slaves lived on plantation with fewer than twenty slaves, which does not constitute a large plantation. In addition, the fact that the interviews were collected from the numerous states allows for a good comparison of the African-American slave experience.9

Yetman also suggests that there are limitations to the Slave Narrative Collection based on the race of the interviewer. He argues that black interviewers were seldom used, in contrast to Wilma A. Dunaway’s statistical representation. It is easy to understand that race relations played a part of the interview. Yetman provides a few examples of how the race of the interviewer affected the information given. Firstly, since the interviews were during the Great Depression and most blacks were living in extreme poverty, it is possible that the interviewee told the white government employee what they wanted to hear so that they would hopefully give the ‘faithful’ former slave a job. Yetman noticed slave interviews conducted by whites often give an inaccurate depiction of the ‘good ole days’ where the blacks were cared for and had no worries. Secondly, when interviewed by someone of their same color, interviewee’s were much more candid in their response.

“Seventy-two percent of the ex-slaves interviewed by whites rated the quality of their food as good, while only forty-six percent of those interviewed by blacks did. Similarly, twenty-six percent of those responding to white interviewers expressed unfavorable attitudes toward their former masters compared to thirty-nine percent of those who responded to black interviewers”.10

Yetman continues to imply that there are limitations based on the memory of the interviewee and omission by the interviewer. When the interviews were conducted more than seventy years had passed since the Emancipation of slaves and most informants were children when they were freed. In addition, living in poverty during the Depression, it is likely that they remembered the past fondly because of their current deprivation. Yetman also thinks that the informant may have exaggerated the past when they noticed the interviewer was documenting what was said, making the informant feel that what said was important and it would be more likely that stories were exacerbated or fabricated to please the interviewer. He also points out that it is hard to believe that the interviewer was able to write every word precisely as it was said while paying special attention to the dialect.11

Despite the concerns about the legitimacy of the narratives, they still provide important information about slavery experiences. The narratives offer an array of information that is useful to today’s researchers. The information is used for a variety of research into a previously unrecorded and unknown era. Although some historians refuse to use the narratives because they inaccurately display slavery as ‘good’, they are widely available through American Memory Website and it is important to acknowledge the existence of such a voluminous national work.12

The use of the narratives for research can be very helpful when used in addition to other local public information, particularly the National Census. For example, if someone is interested in researching an interviewer or an interviewee for genealogical or historical purposes there are a variety of useful resources. Every ten years, the United States government publishes a National Census of everyone who lives in the country. The Census information provides important residential, occupational and genealogical information. Unfortunately, since the government only releases the information to the public every seventy-two years, the most recent Census available is from 1930. The 1930 Census contains information from 123 million people who were asked 34 questions.13

Other important resources are local public files like city directories, obituary, tax information, online genealogical databases and vital records. City directories are complied every years or so, including the address, phone number and sometimes the occupation of the inhabitants of the city. From this information, a person’s residence can be traced and with whom they were living. Obituaries are often published in local newspapers. Some archives are available in public libraries or online. Vital records include birth, marriage and death records that have been filed with the federal government. This does not mean that all births, marriages, and deaths have been recorded. Tax information includes land deeds, which is useful if the person was a land holder. These records are generally found at the county courthouse. Online genealogical databases, like FamilySearch.com or Ancestry.com , offer the most extensive collaboration of federal information including all National Censuses, vital records, and genealogical information available to a researcher today. These websites are easy to use and increase the probability of findings by their broad database.

To illustrate how the Slave Narratives, in combination with additional public resources can aid in the research of an interviewer or an interviewee, the remainder of this paper will examine the life of a local interviewer for the FWP, Grace McCune. From the American Memory website that is available to the general public, the interviewer’s name can be search through the entire online collection of the Slave Narratives. Under the name Grace McCune, thirty-six interviews from ex-slaves in Athens, Ga. appear to have been written by her. Most of her interviews are published in Volume 4 in the WPA Narratives Project. In examination of the interviews, Sara Hall seems to have edited most of her works.

Inspection of the original typed slave interviews can also provide important information about the interviewer. Frequently the interviewer is asked questions by the interviewee to make a situation more comfortable or because the people may know each other if they have lived in the same town. To give an example of how the information may be helpful, in an interview with Mrs. Texie Gordon, a boarding house director in 1939, Grace tells the boarding house director who she lives with. When asked by Mrs. Gordon whether or not she was a good border, Grace says that she “lives with a policeman’s family” and that she is a good tenant.14 This shows how the interviewer may accidentally give personal information which becomes recorded in National Archives and how this information may be helpful to current research.

In review of all the writings of Grace McCune, there is a plethora of information about her life and character. The really wonderful comments are about her personality, which is information that you will not be able to find in the local government documents. In an interview with Mr. Richard, who loves to fish and wants Grace to go fishing with him, Grace says that she has gone fishing once with her father and she hates the snakes around the water. Instead of fishing with Mr. Richard she enjoyed playing with his dogs because she missed the dog she had when she was little. When she asked Mr. Richard about his religion, she knew many bible verses and said that her mother taught her the bible.15 From just this one interview, information about her childhood, family, religious beliefs and preferences are easily found. It can be deducted that she might have lived in Athens during 1939, that she lived with a policeman’s family, she might have belonged to a local church, she had living memories of her father and mother, and she did not have a preference for outdoor activities.

These deductions in combination with further use of local public government documents will give more information about the life of Grace McCune. The 1930 Census shows that two people lived in the state of Georgia under similar names. A Gracie McCune lived in Atlanta/Fulton, Georgia as a roomer with a family whose names is not legible. Gracie was thirty-six at the time of the Census, meaning she was born in 1894. She worked as a seamstress at a drum factory and her parents were born in Georgia.16 The other name that appeared is Grace McCune from Athens, Georgia. Grace lived in Militia District 216 with her father, whose name is also illegible and whose occupation was a policeman. She was thirty-three at the time of the Census, placing her birthday in 1897. Grace did not have a job at the time. Her parents and her father’s parents were both born in Georgia.17 Using the information that we know to be true, directly from Grace McCune’s mouth, it can be deducted with some accuracy that the Grace McCune that lived in Athens, Georgia with her policeman father is the same Slave Narrative interviewer, Grace McCune of Athens, Georgia.

In the case of Grace McCune, search of vital records through online genealogical resources, Familytree.com and Ancestry.com, were not exceedingly helpful. There are no records of any Grace McCune’s, besides the previously stated 1930 Census, that would fit the previous description during this time frame. However, it should be mentioned that among the records that did appear, the McCune’s are immigrants that arrived in America from Glasgow, Scotland. Most of the McCune’s that appeared lived in Oklahoma, Utah, California, West Virginia or New Jersey.18 There were no additional records of any Grace McCune that lived in Athens, Georgia during the 1930’s, or at any time for that matter.

By using the City Directories of Athens, Georgia, assuming that she lived there with her father at Militia District 216 in 1930, Grace McCune’s residence and occupation can be traced through several years. In the 1928-29 Directories, her name does not appear. It is also important to note that no McCune’s lived in Athens at the time.19 In 1931, Grace McCune appears as a roomer who resided at 881 ½ College Avenue. Her name appears twice in the directory, under the (now legible) name Daniel McCune, whose occupation is listed as a policeman, and also independently listed under the same address.20 She resided at this residence until 1938, when she moves to 675 Cobb as a roomer. It also appears that she is employed as a research worker for the U.S. Federal Writers Project.21 In 1937, she lives at the same residence but Daniel McCune’s name disappears, meaning that he has most likely died or moved away. During this time, Grace worked as a clerk at the Southern Department Store.22

Grace McCune lived in Athens until 1954, working a variety of jobs and moving frequently after the end of her position as a research worker when the Federal Writers’ Project lost funding in 1939.23 In 1940, she lived as a roomer at 356 Hill and worked for the NYA.24 In 1942, she lived at the Gilbert Hotel and worked at the Athens-Clarke County Library.25 In 1947, she still lived at the hotel but worked then at a bookkeeper for Georgian Laundry.26 In 1949, she moved again to 175 Cobb, working at the Davis Tailor Shop doing alterations.27 In 1952, she moved back as a roomer at 675 Cobb, the same residence as 1938, but worked as a saleswoman.28 In 1954, her name disappears from the City Directory.29 If this is the same Grace McCune of the 1930 Census who was born in 1897, she would have been fifty-seven years old in 1954. Given the fact that people did not live long, she probably died or possibly moved away. A more elaborate explaination is given later in the paper.

From investigation of the information given by the City Directories, many things can be inferred. Firstly, this has to be the same Grace McCune of the Slave Narratives because she is living with a policeman Daniel McCune, her father, from 1931 to 1937. Also, the disappearance of his name in 1937 and the fact that she resided at the same address until a year later, suggests that a search of Daniel McCune’s death records may be productive. Secondly, the appearance of her occupation as a research worker for the U.S. Federal Writer Project in 1938 confirms that this is the same Grace McCune who wrote for the Slave Narratives’ Collection. It is also important to note that Grace is in here thirties and single. Thirdly, all of her jobs were temporary and typical of a single woman who lived in Athens during the Great Depression. Furthermore, the addresses appear to be somehow significant to Grace.

The City Directories not only give important information about Grace McCune, but also of other McCune’s, like Daniel, that lived in the city at the same time. As was stated before, no McCune’s lived in Athens from 1927 to 1929. Since Grace and her father appear in the 1930 Census, they must have moved there that year. In the 1931directory, four other McCune’s lived in the city and all of them lived at 137 Peters. Lawrence McCune appears as the homeowner, as well as Robert L. McCune, who is a printer, and his wife Nellie. Milton McCune appears as a roomer at the same address. There seems to be an obvious relationship between these people.30 In 1935, Robert moves as a roomer to 122 E. Poplar. Nellie does not appear. It will be demonstrated later that Nellie probably died and Robert moved into an apartment. Now, Lawrence is a printer and Milton is employed at the Hanna Manufacturing Company.31

Further breakdown of the Athens City Directories from 1937 to 1938 will provide more insight into the relationship of the other McCune’s of Athens and Grace McCune. In 1937, the year Grace’s father possibly died and while she was working as a clerk in the Southern Department Store, Clarence E. and Annie M. McCune arrived in Athens, living at 234 Peters. Clarence also works as a printer at The McGregor Company Inc. This year Milton moves to 337 E Hoyt as a roomer and gets a new job as a woodworker. Also, Lawrence marries Mabel and he gets a job as a printer at the same factory as Clarence. . Lawrence and Clarence live on the same street and are both printers at the same factory, which suggest a relationship between Peters Street and McCune inhabitants.32 In 1938, Milton joins Lawrence and Clarence as a printer.33 From this information, there seems to be an obvious relationship between the McCune’s that live in Athens, specifically involving the men who are employed as printers and the fact that most of them live on Peters Street.

In information in the remaining City Directories, from 1940 to 1956, there seems to be further evidence of a relationship, a migration of McCune’s into the city with an eventual exodus in 1956. In 1940, Milton McCune disappears.34 In 1949 Betty A. McCune, a saleswoman at Warren J. Smith and Bros., and Bobby McCune begin to room at 234 Peters, the same residence as Lawrence, Mabel, Clarence and Annie.35 In 1952, Bobby McCune disappears, and is replaced by Joyce I. McCune, an office secretary at Erwin, Nix, Birchmore and Epting. Another addition to the 234 S. Peter inhabitants is Robert C. McCune, an electrician at Roberts Electric and Appliance.36 In 1954, Lawrence and Mabel move to 137 N Peter, along with the newly arrived Larry McCune who declared himself a student. Joyce has disappeared from the directory.37 Instead, Donald E. McCune moves in with Clarence and Annie at 234 S Peter, the former residence of Lawrence and Mabel. It is also important to note that Grace McCune has also disappeared from the directory. Finally, in 1956 all McCune’s in Athens, Georgia are absent from the directory. The information from these directories suggests that there is a definite relationship between all of the McCune’s that lived in Athens, Georgia from 1931 to 1956. Evidence for this is the close, if not same, proximity of all of the McCunes’ and their complete absence in 1956.

From the research conducted thus far, just through the use of the Slave Narrative, the 1930 Census and the Athens, Georgia City Directory from 1928 to 1956, it seems probable that explorations into important names and places that appear consistently with Grace McCune’s name will be productive in providing details about the relationship between the Athens, Georgia McCune’s. Although research into the online genealogy of Grace McCune was not fruitful, there was much genealogical evidence about Daniel J. McCune, the policeman who resided with Grace McCune at 888 ½ College Avenue from 1931 to 1936, when his name disappears.

From the 1880 Census, Daniel J. McCune appears as the son of John and Jane and is one of nine children. He was born in 1886, which is the same age of Grace McCune’s policeman father, whose name was not legible in the 1930 Census. Among the siblings of Daniel is Robert L. McCune, who was born in 1874 and lived by himself 120 N. Poplar until 1954, after his wife Nellie died in 1935.38 Through investigations of the other McCunes’ at Ancestry.com Robert and Nellie had three children named Lawrence A. (1909-1976), Clarence E. (1906-1978) and Milton (1902-1963). Lawrence A. McCune fathered Larry A. McCune, who lived from 1943 until 1990. Clarence E. McCune and his wife Annie parented Betty A. (1929-?) and Bobby McCune.39

Because there is a noticeable relationship between the McCune’s in the City Directories, and after additional research into the other McCune residences through online genealogical resources, enough information has been gathered to be able to gather assumptions about the Slave Narratives interviewer Grace McCune. From the information discussed thus far, it is safe to deduct that the Grace McCune in the Athens directories are in fact the same writer, she was white and was the granddaughter of John and Jane McCune and the daughter of Daniel J. McCune. She was also the niece of Robert L. McCune, the brother of Daniel J., and her nephews were Lawrence, Clarence, and Milton. . She was also an aunt to Larry, Betty A. and Bobby. This explains the relationship between the Athens, Georgia McCune’s and the importance of the residences.

Despite the amount of information that we know about Grace McCune and her relatives, there are many more shortcomings in records available that inhibit an accurate historical depiction of Grace. The only document about Grace is from the 1930 Census, making most of these assumptions from research from her apparent relatives. In addition, from the lack of records available, she never appears to have been married or to have had children. The numerous jobs held by Grace McCune cannot be researched further. Death records were not available, but it is not probable that she lived to be 108 years old. Information about her mother, Daniel’s wife, was not available. Moreover, research about Daniel’s service as a policeman is not available through the local police department or any other database. Needless to say, the amount of information that was not accessible about the relatives of Grace is too numerous for the purposes of this paper.

In conclusion, this history of the Federal Writer’s Project, specifically the Slave Narrative Collection, is the most extensive and resourceful documentation of the history of African Americans’ before 1930. Despite the possible inadequacies in the narratives, the documents are extremely informative for researchers today. The usefulness of the narratives has been exemplified through analysis of the Slave Narrative interviewer from Athens, Georgia, Grace McCune. The narratives, when used in combination with local public government and online genealogical information, can provide the most accurate information that is possible in research of the distant past.

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