Slave Narratives
through the Lens of the Great Depression
Rachel Hettinger
History 3090
The New
Deal, a public policy era that dramatically increased the size of the United
States Federal Government, provided jobs for Americans that found themselves
out of work as a result of the Depression. As a part of the Works Project
Administration or WPA, the Federal Writer’s Project was formed to document
certain aspects of American life. A certain aspect of the Federal Writer’s
Project that was closely associated with the American South are
the collection of narratives of former slaves. The slave narratives that were
documented by employees of the Federal Writer’s Project gave new insight to the
African American life during the Great Depression. The connection between the
interviewer and the interviewee that both led two seemingly different lives and
their relationship between each other creates a common bond. The slave
narratives also magnify differences that caused complications and altered viewpoints
of the interviewee. The Federal Writer’s Project Slave Narratives, but were also affected by multifaceted underpinnings that made
the interviews a unique and significant occurrence that is essential to
understanding the life and history of former slaves in the American South
during the Great Depression. [1]
The Works Progress Administration Slave Narratives were not the first slave narratives. The previous slave narratives that were written before and after the Civil War were dismissed by many historians because of their small and biased sample of slave life. The oral histories that were collected and written during the Great Depression by the Federal Writer’s Project gave historians a more accurate account of slave life in the American South. The numerous amounts of occupations of slaves show the wide range of labor on a plantation. Slaves from plantations of one to one thousand slaves gave insight into the difference of living and work condition in the former slaves’ life. [2]
The effects of the Great Depression, especially on elderly black people in the South, caused distortion in the somewhat nostalgic nature of the former slaves. The pressures upon African-Americans, especially in the Jim Crow South also led to discrepancies in the former slaves’ memories. Because of the views of slave life are primarily through the eyes of slave and cause a wide range of ages of slaves to be highly underrepresented. Distortions of interviews also occurred when discriminations within the WPA and other government jobs during the Great Depression caused strained communication between blacks and whites in the South. Although these distortions created the history of slave life in the Antebellum Era somewhat askew, the stories and lives are able to be appreciated in a historical perspective. [3]
The Federal Writer’s Project Slave Narratives, although a resourceful representation of life in the Antebellum South, shows connections that were not normally displayed. The simple struggles of these elderly black people highlight the relationship between two people of a completely different race, class, and gender. These slave narratives create a bridge over which a white, middle class woman can speak and be effective with a black, lower class male. Looking even closer, the age gap is bridged through a woman in her fifties to a man in his nineties. This joining of two different groups allows for the relationship of the primarily race based factors of the Great Depression to exceed beyond race and identify other factors which are essential to the relationship between the interviewer and the interviewee. The conjunction of the literate and illiterate, the unbound and the arguably bound, the represented and the unrepresented, the hater and the hated, sheds a light onto the intrinsic culture of African Americans during the Great Depression in a truly unique manner. [4]
The typical interviewer for the Federal Writer’s Project slave Narratives did not exhibit the qualities of a skilled interviewer. With the lack of training that the Federal Writer’s Project provided the interviewer with before she went to conduct interviews gave the slave narratives less credibility in the eyes of historians. Interestingly, 9 out of 10 employees for the WPA were unskilled. The Federal Writer’s Project allowed for somewhat educated members to use their skills during the Great Depression. However, because of connections within the bureaucracy, some people with little or no college and experience with interviews were given jobs with the Federal Writer’s Project. Another complexity that caused greater hesitation was the presence of interviewers that interviewed former slaves who were direct descendants of their former masters. The hands off approach that the Works Progress Administration officials took towards Jim Crow in the South caused the black man to most likely distrust a man that did not directly support his race, thus increasing the discrepancies. In some cases, interviewers were more interested in getting the right answers from the interviewee than grasping the richness and history of the lives of the former slaves. These discrepancies from interviewer to interviewer cause each interview to be distorted from its original verbatim form. [5]
My interviewer, Ina B. Hawkes may
be located in numerous city directories in
Her life as a child was centered on
her mother and brother. Her maiden name Prater is able to be traced back to
In 1909, Miss Ina B. Praither was
married to Dozier Hawkes. It is not until the 1930 Census until the Hawks are
found again in Union Point,
The family did not live on a farm
and paid a rent of $17.50 per month for their house in
The families’ move from
In one interview, Ida B. Hawkes, as her name was spelled during her employment with the Federal Writer’s Project interviewed her former washerwoman when unmarried. This interview did not consist of anything about the former slave, Lucille Jackson’s, life before the Civil War. When questions about slavery that the interviewee was uncomfortable with arose, the interviewee typically started to talk about her current life. In turn, the slave narrative becomes both a slave narrative but a primary source for elderly African American life in the Nineteen Thirties. This narrative is a vital key to understanding the life of elderly African Americans during the Great Depression. [11]
The interview begins with Ida B. Hawkes discussing her want to have clothes washed and finding her old washerwoman, “Lil,” to do her wash for her. This nickname that Ida B. Hawkes uses in the initial paragraph exposes the comfortable relationship that Ida B. Hawkes has with Lucille Jackson. between the interviewer and the interviewee. This comfort or reminiscence of when Ida B. Hawkes used to call her “Lil” leads to the former slave speaking about her life since the two last parted. [12]
The ability of Ida B. Hawkes during
the Great Depression and during her upbringing to have a person wash her
clothes demonstrates that she is in the middle class. The account of the
washerwoman, Lucille Jackson, shows that she seems to be in need of money and is
washing clothes just to get by. The life of the woman does not become easier in
old age, but becomes worse with the departing of her family from
The mixing of opposing race, class, and gender can be examined further into more in depth connections through “intergenerational relations” because of the dire times of the Great Depression. Without the economic condition during the 1930’s, the relationship between two people who lived in two extraordinarily different worlds would not have been necessary. The bridging of the gap between ages is exemplified between Ida B. Hawkes and Lucille Jackson. The interview of Lucille Jackson demonstrates the effects of age differences, especially in times of Depression between a woman that is in her fifties and a woman that is her the nineties. The support for elderly people before the accumulation of personal savings and government pensions for military service was based around the monetary support of the younger generations for the elderly. The Great Migration of many young African Americans led to elderly African Americans not having any family support, especially when work for the elderly is so scarce. Without a strong system of Social Security at the time, elderly African Americans just like Lucille Jackson are looking for domestic jobs that will sustain them. The elderly of both races, however, are at odds especially when there was a growth of education past their days of schooling and their seniority drastically limited their potential for a steady employment with a company. [14]
The interactions between the
interviewer and the interviewee were extremely polite. The cordiality between
the two was from Ida B. Hawkes respect for her as an older woman and a former
employee. From Lucille Jackson’s perspective, there was a respect for Ida B.
Hawkes because of her color and that Lucille wanted to have money to eat the
next day. Lucille Jackson called Ida B. Hawkes, at the time a 54 year old
woman, “chile” and “
The infidelity and drinking of Lucille alluded to the instability of the black community during the Great Depression. The dependency of Lucille Jackson on her children to work and bring home money for food shows the desperate situation of the former slave. Ida B. Hawkes can understand the work as a child because by the age of twelve she was a ribber for the Athens Ribbing Mill. This connection between the two illustrates a cominality between work as a child that both of the women can comprehend. Lucille Jackson’s current condition consisted of an extra income from a male companion so it helps the woman not be in such a destitute position. With Ida B. Hawkes’ husband out of work since, or even before 1930, she can only imagine the added income of the woman that is supposed to be below her in every aspect of life. [16]
This interview is essential to the comprehension of the typical African-American culture, specifically older African-Americans, during the Great Depression. The multiple dichotomies that are omnipresent in Southern Culture show that these relations, the major relation being race, cannot be erased even eighty years after the start of the Civil War. Although only 2% of the living former slaves were interviewed, the relationship between slaves and their masters, finally through the eyes of former slaves can shed a light through a new perspective. [17]
Ida B. Hawkes interviewed a former male
slave whose interpretation of his bondage was altogether positive. This
interview serves as an example of a modified view of slavery because of the
repercussions of the Great Depression and Jim Crow. One interview that was
conducted by Ida B. Hawkes is titled Reminiscence
of a Negro Preacher. This interview exemplifies the Jim Crow pressures that
the oppressed African Americans experienced during the Great Depression. [18]
In his first paragraph, speaking about his life as a slave, Alonzo Power states, “I was a slave, Miss but a happy one.” Alonzo Powers’ declaration that he was a happy slave showed the power that the white community still had over the black community. Unfortunately, the power of the white community made the slave narratives not only a reflection of life during the antebellum years, but a distortion that drew its interpretation from the white and black community. [19]
Speaking about his relationship with his mistress, Alonzo Power appears to hold his mistress up to a very high standard because, “My Mistess would not let anyone whip us, not even my mother or father.” This quote shows that the “eternal child” belief of masters when referring to their slaves was also used by the women of the antebellum era. The protection that Alonzo Power uses in reassurance that even the mistress protected him from beating, shows that he made sure to show the kindness and hospitality of the Mistress on the plantation to preserve his fairly stable way of life during the Great Depression from white aggressors. [20]
The massive hunger during the Great Depression highly affected the reality that the former slaves neglected to see. Power states, “Oh, we were the happiest little souls in the world.” The happiness that can be derived from someone that owns a person can hardly be seen as a happy little soul. The seemingly easy way of life as a slave probably has been increasing even since the hard times appeared during the Great Depression. The most likely just substantial survival can be numbed over the years into “we had plenty to eat.” [21]
During the time of the Civil War,
slaves also felt invaded. Although their freedom was guaranteed if the
The completely positive and loyal experience that Alonzo Powers remembered can be added to the fact that “Yes Ma’am, Miss, we stuck to our Marster and Mistess.” This loyalty that the slaves had towards their masters and mistresses made the South appear like even if the slaves were freed, they would still appreciate those who cared for them as “eternal children” for so many years. The South’s provincial, patriarchal mentality obviously lasts throughout Reconstruction and increases during the Great Depression when race relations were extremely strained. The relationship between Jim Crow and the interviewee greatly impacted the positivity of the former slave through his fear of retaliation of him because of negative statements. [23]
The Federal Writer’s Project Slave Narratives attests to a time of racial struggles, especially in the American South. Through distorted views resulting from the Great Depression, historical insight on truth and perception of slave life are found in the slave narratives. The slave narratives of the 1930s illuminate the life of the slave, but also the culture of African Americans during the Great Depression. Although in a distorted viewpoint, the slave narratives are a historical document that provides a new comprehension of slave life in the Antebellum South and the African American life during the Great Depression. The connection between race, class, and gender are furthered though connection of different ages and unemployment during the 1930’s. Through the Federal Writer’s Project, I gained insight into the relations of former slaves in their racially unstable world during their bondage, but also during the Great Depression. [24]
Related Links
www.libs.uga.edu/athens/history.html
Been Here So Long: Selections from the WPA Slave Narratives
Slavery Narratives
http://cghs.dade.k12.fl.us/slavery/narratives/narratives.htm
[1] Michael
J. Gelfand. "Chronicling An African-American Life In
.John W.
Blassingame. "Using the Testimony of Ex-Slaves:
Approaches and Problems, "Journal of Southern History, Vol. 41
No. 4 (November 1975), 480.
Stephanie J. Shaw. "Using the WPA
Ex-Slave Narratives to Study the Impact of the Great Depression," Journal
of Southern History, Vol. 69 No. 3 (Aug 2003), 629,655,658.
[2] John Sekora. “Black
Message/ White Envelope: Genre, Authenticity, and Authority in the Antebellum
Slave Narrative,” Callaloo, No. 32
(Summer 1987), 482.
Norman R. Yetman. "Ex-Slave Interviews
and the Historiography of Slavery," American Quarterly, Vol. 36
No. 2 (Summer 1984), 181-182.
Blassingame, 480.
[3] Norman R. Yetman. "The
Background of the Slave Narrative Collection," American Quarterly,
Vol. 19 No. 3 (Autumn 1967), 542.
Shaw, 481.
Blassingame, 481.
[4] Lindon
Barrett. “African-American Slave Narratives: Literacy, the
Body, the Authority,” American Literary Society, Vol. 7 No. 3 (Autumn 1995),
415.
Blassingame,
491-492.
[5] Norman
Yetman. “The Background of the Slave Narrative Collection,” 542/
Jensen, 577.
Shaw,
624-625.
Blassingame,
483-484.
[6] City Directory.
City Directory.
City Directory.
City Directory.
City Directory.
United
States Census http://search.ancestry.com/cgibin/sse.dll?server=search&databaseid=6224&db=1930usfedcen&ti=0&type=p&title=1930+U.S.+Federal+Census&f3=Ina+&f2=Hawks&sx=&f5=&f4=&f7=&f14=&f21=&submit.x=0&submit.y=0&gss=angs&indiv=1&fh=2,
1930;
Social
Security Death Index http://search.ancestry.com/cgibin/sse.dll?f23=&sx=&db=ssdi&ti=0&hc=&f13=&f14=&f15=&f12=&f9=&f8=&f10=&f6=&f5=&f7=&f0=&f1=&f2=&f20=&submit.x=0&submit.y=0&gsfn=Ina&gsln=Hawkes&gss=angs&indiv=1&fh=2,
1972;
Marriage Records,
[11] Lucille
Jackson, “De Trubles I’s
Seen,” interview by Ina B. Hawkes, Manuscripts from the Federal Writer’s
Project,
Shaw, 629, 630, 655, 658.
[14] Jensen, Richard J.
“The Causes and Cures of Unemployment in the Great Depression,” Journal of Interdisciplinary History,
Vol. 19 No. 4 (Spring 1989), 570.
Shaw, 657-658.
[18] Alonzo
Power, “Reminisence of a Negro Preacher,” interview by Ina B. Hawkes,
[23] Alonzo Power Interview.