Jennifer Hollifield
HIST 3090
Dr. Gagnon
The Great Depression, racial segregation, thousands jobless and poverty were issues that defined the three decades of sectional controversy that preceded the Civil War. This period also known as the Jim Crow era, consisted of laws that imposed racial segregation, which existed in the South, and sprouted up in the late nineteenth century after Reconstruction and lasted until the 1960’s. The Stock Market crash in October 1929 marked the beginning of the Great Depression, along with the worst economic disaster in United States history. Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected into office in 1932 with the promise of a new deal to improve the lives of Americans. As a result of the New Deal, the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A) was created in 1935 which produced the Federal Writers Project (F.W.P.) helping to provide economic relief to thousands of United States citizens who were suffering as result of the Great Depression. The Works Projects Administration along with the Federal Writers Project created temporary jobs for thousands of people throughout America, like Sarah Hall. Their assignment was to go around designated regions and interview ex-slaves in hopes of retrieving legible, representations of slave life. Sarah Hall, was an interviewer and editor for the Federal Writers Project in Athens Georgia. Mrs. Hall was a white, middle-aged, widowed mother of two who traveled from her birthplace of White Plains Georgia to Athens, where she would spend the next five years of her life conducting and editing interviews of ex-slaves which in return would help to preserve the history of slavery and provide temporary economic relief.1
Sarah Hall was born Sarah Fulton around 1890 in White Plains, Greene County, Georgia.2 Growing up in the deeply segregated south, Sarah Fulton witnessed and experienced the harsh systems of legalized segregation enforced on African Americans in public areas such as restaurants, schools and transportation. Every aspect of life during this period contained some form of segregation or discrimination that was part of every day life. Ms. Fulton did not attend school with black children or even had contact with them. Growing up, Ms. Fulton observed horrifying public lynchings and other brutalizing attacks on African Americans, which were the way of life in southern cities and towns. During this time, such incidents as these were common to southern blacks, who often lived in fear of white, discriminatory societies during the controversial Jim Crow era.
During the early 20th century women very seldom received secondary education and few even finished high school, especially in the rural south. No records were located on what formal education Sarah Fulton received as a child, however it is probable that she completed school and might have attended some form of secondary school, based on her latter age of marriage and qualifications of the job she later obtained. Most women in the early nineteen hundreds were married at fairly young ages, usually between 16-20 years old, and their lives were spent mainly as housewives. However, Sarah Fulton did not marry until she was 26 years old, which would have been considered old for her time. 3 She married Floyd Hall on February 10, 1915, in a Methodist ceremony in White Plains Georgia at the age of 26.4
The 1930’s census revealed that Sarah Hall had two sons; Fred in 1916 and Ross in 1918, and it revealed that both sons were born in Ohio, not in White Plains, Georgia. 5 This primary evidence suggests that sometime after a year of marriage, Sarah and Floyd Hall moved up to Ohio, however reasons for this daring move to the north are unknown. 6 Since White Plains, Georgia was already a rural, poorer area in the south, it was probably hit hard during the depression leading to local residents loss of jobs, thus forcing residents to look for other ways to provide a living for their families. Mr. Hall had previously made his living through farming and when the Great Depression hit, sales in produce and agriculture failed, resulting in loss of farms. This could have been a reason for the Hall’s move to the north, in search for better job opportunities. On the other hand, no birth records could be located in Greene County, for Floyd Hall, so it is a possibility that he might have been from Ohio and still had family living there, thus encouraging their move. Even though the North was also hit hard by the Great Depression, southerners probably believed that there was a greater chance of obtaining some kind of job up there because of it being more industrialized.
The North, during the Jim Crow era, differed from the extremely rural segregated South. In the South, segregation was written into the laws and laws were passed which restricted equal access of black to all kinds of public areas and accommodations, and posting such as “Whites Only” and “Colored” were placed everywhere throughout the South. 7 Underlying all of these efforts to segregate the south was the idea of “White Supremacy” which many southerners firmly believed in. Although the North consisted of segregation in public areas like the South, segregation was not written into the law, like it was in the South.8 However, even in the North many employers refused to hire qualified African Americans for jobs and African Americans were not allowed to live in white neighborhoods. 9 The North, although hit hard by the Great Depression, was more industrialized than the South, thus leading southerners to believe in and hope for better job opportunities.
Overall, the Hall’s move up to the North was a bold one indeed. However, their life in Ohio seemed to have lasted only for a short while for reasons unknown. The next time Mrs. Hall can be located is in the 1930 census when she was 41 years old. 10 At this time she was listed as living at home with her parents, in White Plains, Georgia, along with her two children and listed as a widow.11 Information pertaining to the death of Floyd Hall could not be found, however it is possible that he died while in Ohio, thus forcing Sarah Hall to move back to her homestead as a widow with two teenage sons. The 1930 census also provided useful information on Sarah Hall. While living with her parents she was listed as unemployed, which was not uncommon for a female especially during the Great Depression, and she was credited with the ability to read and write, this would indicate that she had some formal education. 12 It is around this devastating, period of hardship that Sarah Hall’s life began to improve with the opportunity of a lifetime ahead.
The development of the New Deal Program enacted by president Franklin D. Roosevelt, helped in the economic relief for thousands of unemployed writers and anyone who could qualify as a writer, such as a lawyer, teacher or librarian through the Federal Writers Project.13 The primary goal of this challenging yet opportunistic program was to provide jobs to jobless Americans and at the same time interview thousands of ex-slaves and capture their testimonies of horrific experiences. Most of the ex-slave testimonies were compiled during 1937 and 1938. 14 Because the number of surviving slaves were quickly diminishing the 1930’s motivation for compiling these interviews were extremely high. The interviewers were mostly white, however it was recommended that a few African Americans were hired in states lacking separate black units, although few blacks were hired, their terms were often of short duration. Overall, the interviewers, black or white, were inspired and determined to seek after these first person accounts of ex-slaves and their reactions to bondage.
According to an Athens’s City Directory for 1935, a widowed, single mother Sarah Hall, was a qualified applicant for the Federal Writer Project, an ambitious and comprehensive effort, and moved to Athens, Georgia with her two sons.15 The family settled into a house which they rented on Prince Ave., along with several other women employed by the Federal Writers Project. Change of location and a dependable job with an adequate salary were appealing factors for Sarah Hall. Since the death of her husband, times had been especially hard on her and her family, emotionally and physically, and she found supporting her two teenage sons to be a difficult task. With the prospect of a paying job on the way and no longer depending on her parents for support, Sarah Hall eagerly awaited her new job in Athens. Because of Mrs. Hall’s above average ability to read and write she was granted a job not only as an interviewer for the Athens area but also an editor, a position which most men held. She became one of thousands in the nation and one of five women in the Athens area who’s primary goals were to seek after truthful, honest representations regarding the lives of surviving ex-slaves and complete accurate descriptions their lives. Mrs. Hall more than likely was not aware of the forthcoming significance of her job and the lasting impressions which the first-person slave accounts would have on her and the nation for years to come.
The steps taken in obtaining these precious and rare interviews were somewhat complicated. It was understood that no African American was to be neglected in any of the publications written or sponsored by the Federal Writers Project.16 There is no evidence as to what training if any was conducted in order to prepare these interviewers. However, most interviewers were given sample questionnaires for the ex-slaves to respond to and these consisted of information about subjects’ family, education, income, occupation, political views, religion and morals, diet, medical needs, personal lifestyle and viewpoints, and use of time. 17 Overall, the intention of the interviews were to allow ex-slaves an unparalleled opportunity to give their personal accounts of what it was like to be a slave in the United States.
Sarah Hall is not credited with as many interviews as the other women working in her region. Her biggest accomplishment which was prestigious for a woman was the privilege of editing many slave narratives. Nevertheless, Mrs. Hall found time to venture around Athens and track down a few ex-slaves in order to conduct a few interviews. Anna Parkes, was one of the few ex-slaves, Sarah Hall interviewed. Anna Parkes, then lived at 70 Strong Street in Athens.18
Upon arrival, to Mrs. Parkes home on Strong Street, Sarah Hall briefly described the old woman’s home as small yet tidy.19 Then, Sarah began following somewhat of her guidelines of questions to ask. Throughout the interview, there is a lack of conversation between the two women, suggesting that Mrs. Hall might have had some kind of shy personality or even been uneasy interviewing the elderly woman, perhaps another reason why Mrs. Hall was more involved in editing than interviewing. After all, the purpose of her visit was to get Anna’s first person account of being a southern slave in Athens, Georgia. Mrs. Hall, briefly described the old woman’s demeanor but did not go into detail, revealing her desire to only focus on Anna Parkes’ slave account and not her physical appearance as an older women, which was truly was irrelevant. It seems as though Mrs. Hall was partial to listening and absorbing Anna Parkes accounts of slave life rather than a conducting a more conversational interview. Sarah Hall, stuck by the guidelines and mostly just asked questions and was more than likely overwhelmed by Anna Parkes responses to the questions because of the reality of slave life. In the years preceding the Civil war most accounts of slave life were given by plantation owners in their diaries and white historians. The ex-slave interviews revealed another outlook on slave life from the people who were actually subjected to the hardships and struggles of every day life. So many interviewers, like Sarah Hall, were probably moved at the compelling stories they unfolded during the interviews.
The questions Sarah Hall asked Anna Parkes led to a somewhat descriptive account of Anna’s life as a child at the Lumpkin Home Place, on Prince Ave., however the interview was not able to be completed in one day due to Anna Parkes deteriorating memory.20 However, Mrs. Parkes was willing and able to give colorful details of her life on the plantation. Unlike most slaves, Anna Parkes was enslaved by a judge in Athens, who, according to Mrs. Parkes, was good to his slaves, fed, clothed and housed them well and as a result no slaves ever attempted to run away. 21 Mrs. Parkes commented on going to church on Sundays, celebrating Christmas and even having a stocking which would be full on Christmas morning, and also noting that she nor any of the other slaves were ever aware of New Years until after slavery. 22 Other topics included, schooling, which, Mrs. Parkes nor any of the slaves received, and when the slaves were sick they were treated well by the master. Then the interview shifts and Mrs. Parkes describes life after slavery, stating that she did not marry for awhile, had eight children and all died but two and even though they did not want slavery to return, she stated that they all felt that life was easier on the plantation. 23 After slavery was abolished, Mrs. Parkes talked about the difficulty of finding a place to live and the lack of money to even purchase a house. Her family eventually was able to afford a house through working for her old master and getting paid to do their laundry.24 In the end the old women concluded that she had had no hard times in her life, no matter what the circumstance were. Overall, the old woman was lively and enjoyed discussing her life in detail to the best of her ability and the struggles and joys which were a part of it.
Departing from Anna Parkes home, Sarah Hall must have had mixed emotions. Listening to a portrayal of slave life, which was imaginable to white people living in the 1930’s as well as any white person who had been exposed to the idea of slavery throughout the history of the United States, had to be one of the most moving and indescribable experiences of a lifetime. It is documented that Sarah Hall also conducted a few interviews from her homestead in White Plains, Georgia. It is possible that some of the ex-slaves she interviewed there could have had relationships with some of her family members. To interview someone from her hometown Sarah Hall could have found it difficult because of slaveries ties to her past and her families and also because the actual practice and presence of such an institution in her hometown. From conducting these interviews, it is safe to presume that Sarah Hall, along with the other interviewers became advocates of social inequality and the equal representation of African Americans.
The Federal Writers Project was in effect from 1935-1940 and it not only provided temporary employment but it also provided further careers for talented writers who had become well-known through their interviews.25 The money which was provided for the Federal Writers Project ceased in 1939, as a result of Congressmen who were intent on shutting down the enterprise, thus ending a period which collected thousands of ex-slaves accounts and impacted history.26 The project was completely closed down one year after American entered World War II, thus spurning interest in new directions. For a critical time in the United States history, the Federal Writers Project created jobs and gave hope to citizens struggling as a result of the Great Depression. After the project ended the United States was on an upward slope to recovering from the devastating economic decline and more jobs were becoming available.
According, to the 1940-1942 Athens City Directory, Sarah Hall was still living on Prince Ave., and instead of her job as an interviewer and editor she was making a living as a librarian for the University of Georgia.27 This primary evidence supports the claim that Sarah Hall had received some form of education as a child and young adult and might have at one time been a library else where, thus explaining her qualifications for the Federal Writers Project. After the year 1942, Sarah Hall and her two sons could no longer be located in an Athens City Directory. It is unclear what path her life took after her brief job as an interviewer/editor for the Federal Writers Project. However it is certain that she had gained a sense of fulfillment and self-gratitude in the process of preserving the unbiased slave accounts of their lives before the abolition of slavery. There is no sufficient evidence that pertains to how long Sarah Hall lived or what she did with the rest of her life. There are no records to be found of her in White Plains, Georgia suggesting that she probably choose not to move back there and with World War II, there is a chance that her sons were drafted into the war.
During the 1930’s the United States was involved in economic and social turmoil. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal impacted lives throughout the country and gave citizens hope. With the creation of the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) producing the Federal Writers Project (F.W.P.) many American citizens, like Sarah Hall were provided with amazing opportunities and brighter futures ahead. In conclusion, the Federal Writers Project created thousands of ex-slave testimonies. Today, we can look at these first-hand accounts and know the slaves view of slavery and the ups and downs that went along with it. When I read Anna Parkes account, I was overcome with mixed-emotions and felt a sense of sadness for the poor old women, who had endured, for the first part of her life, enslavement. All of these narratives are heart-wrenching, emotional accounts and have had and still will have profound affects on people who read them.