Jessica Huerta

March 5, 2004

Dr. Gagnon

History 3090

The Effect of Slave Narratives

Two women, one white and one black, sit under a tree, in Baldwin County on July 20, 1937. The white woman, Mrs. Estelle Burke, is interviewing Aunt Carrie Mason as an assignment for the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Writers’ Project. Historians have questioned the legitimacy of the slave narratives of the 1930s Federal Writers’ Project, but these narratives can be used to explore the effects of the Great Depression on African-Americans, and the relationships between white, with white supremacy ideologies, and black citizens.1

For the South, the Great Depression was hard. The southern states in general were experiencing foreclosures, bankruptcies, and bank failures. As Ralph Mcgill argues, southerners were being exploited by “a certain type, small town rich man.” There was massive unemployment, destitution, and starvation, but the people most affected by this were African-Americans.2

It is obvious reading the narrative between Mrs. Burke and Aunt Carries that the Masons had fallen victim to the Depression. She describes the Mason’s house as a two-room cabin. According to the 1930 census, four people lived in the Mason house, showing that this family could not afford to live in a place that could fit the whole family. Mrs. Burke described the yard with things the “littered the place” and the neglect of it. This could mean that the Masons lived in the poorer part of town. Segregation was still a major issue in the South and most of the time African-Americans were forced to live in the slums. Then, at the end of the interview, Aunt Mason speaks about having to move constantly from farm to farm. During this time, very few former slaves reported living somewhere free of charge, even run-down places. Many exchanged services, like yard work and housework, for a place to stay or a little food for their families, this way of living made it easy for the upper class to keep blacks in eternal debt.3

The Depression was particularly hard on Africa-Americans because of the ideology of the time. They were not allowed a voice in politics, and they could not vote though they made up the majority of the sharecroppers and farm laborers. In very few circumstances, they worked in the mining and lumbering industries, not at all familiar with industrialization. Ralph McGill states the black man “could not serve on juries, and for justice, in the more rural areas, he depended on the whim or friendship of some white man.”4

The unemployment rate in the United States at that time was outrages. In response, the Federal government introduced the New Deal. A program dedicated to the hiring of unemployed citizen to develop highways, bridges, or any public-works projects. This New Deal was originally set forth for blue-collar workers, but unemployment rates were so high, the government eventually adjusted it to include white-collar workers in the Federal Emergency Relief Agency, also. These unemployment rates were the basis on which the 19345 Federal Emergency Relief Agency (FERA) was developed, which led to the introduction of the Works Progress Administration.5

The Works Progress Administration was an organization that included the Federal Art, Music, Theatre, and Writers’ Projects. These projects were developed in order to provide jobs to writers, artist, musicians, and actors. The Federal Writers’ Project’s original intent was to “prepare a comprehensive and panoramic American Guide.” It would include history, maps, and guides to cities across the nation. As the project developed, the endless possibilities of documenting the history of the United States became apparent. The idea of preserving African-American material, such as folklore and histories, gave way to the ex-slave narratives.6

The Slave Narrative Collection is a result of the Federal Writers’ Project. John A. Lomax was hired to lead this project. He was well known for his efforts in researching and developing American Folklore. He was responsible for accurately recording the accounts of former slaves, detailing slave life and personal reactions to slavery. Some were concerned that his heritage as a white southerner would affect his ability to direct this administration. After careful research, it is obvious that Lomax took this very seriously. Lomax is reported to have insisted that these interviews be recorded verbatim.7

Interviewers were often encouraged to focus their interviews on racial uplift, slave resistance, and attitudes toward freedom. Lomax sent regional branches of the Writers’ project questionnaires with nineteen standard questions to be asked throughout an interview. These questions, along with 333 others that he would send out in some months, focused on the intricacies of slave experiences. Slaves were also to be asked about clothing, church, holiday, anything to give insight to the institution of slavery.8

One issue that did arise from these interviews was in reference to who would perform these interviews. Roosevelt, the only president since Lincoln that really showed any interest in bettering blacks within America, pioneered several things to begin the fight for black civil rights. He began by creating the “Black Cabinet” or the “Black Brain Trust.” He tried to assure more black interviewers by establishing the Office of Negro Affairs. Unfortunately, the power of the Office of Negro Affairs was not strong because of state control over personnel policies.9

Keeping this in mind, researchers have found ex-slaves were more open with same sex interviewers, and also, black interviews and white female interviewers obtained better quality information form these sessions. One interesting statistic included the majority of interviews done by women. Women, eighty percent in Arkansas, ninety percent in Georgia, and sixty percent in North Carolina performed these interviews. Because of the high percentage in Georgia, those narratives are considered to be some of the most reliable of the whole collection. Still though, WPA officials were influenced by the opinions of whites in communities, and when there were black units, they were not around for long periods of time.10

Though the overall statistics of women performing these interviews is quite surprising, it came as no surprise that Estelle Burke was inclined to participate in these interviews. According to her biographical information, Mrs. Burke had to have a job during this time to continue to support her family. Mrs. Burke was married for eighteen years, to a Francis E. Burke, but in May of 1937, he died of a heart attack. The Burke’s had two children. Their daughter was approximately 14, and their son was 11.11

Though the Burkes did not seem to be the richest family, they did seem to do well during the Depression. Mr. Francis Burke not only had a steady job during the Depression, but also served in the United States Army during World War I. His extended family seemed to live in more urban areas, such as Atlanta. One observation that can be made, assuming Mrs. Estelle Burke kept in contact with her late husband’s family, is those relatives of Atlanta may have been influential in helping her get a job with the Writers’ Project Administration. There was no information indicating whether or not there was an office located in Milledgeville for the WPA. If there was a possibility, assuming that Mr. Burke’s obituary is correct in stating he had lived there all of his life, Mrs. Burke may have know someone herself that helped here get the job with the WPA.12

How did race play a part in this? What does this say about the relationship between the two races? As mention earlier, most of the workers were overwhelmingly white. Because of this, historians feel that most of these narratives were self-censored on behalf of the former slaves. Norman Yetman argues, “Because the etiquette of the Southern race relations influenced the definition of the interview situation for these aged blacks, they may have frequently have told the white interviewers, some of whom were even from the families of former slaveholders, “what they wanted to hear.” Interviewees were typically extremely old, for example, Aunt Mason’s husband was 90 years old and she was 75. Typically, they lived on the poor side of town and were hungry and poor. Some sources stated that at times interviewers either misrepresented themselves, or were misinterpreted by interviewees as government agents. The interviewees seem to tell these individuals what they wanted to hear during the interview hoping that the “government agent” may be willing to help them. Though the narrators may seem to be conveying the thought that slavery was preferable to their conditions, historians acknowledge they meant compared to that time.13

In politics, blacks were also subject to the Jim Crow laws of the South. African-Americans really suffered when the market fell, they had to be conscious of everything they did because, yet again, of white supremacy. The South was still segregated; public schools still separated black students from white students, and the black schools had obviously less resources than those of white schools. African-Americans were not allowed in the same playgrounds or parks as whites. They were not allowed to live in the same buildings as whites. Groups like the Ku Klux Klan, and, the “Black Skirts,” of Atlanta made it impossible for African-American people to have a normal life society and even in the political realm.14

“The violence that attended peonage sent tentacles of dread throughout the entire black community,” says Pete Daniel of the threat of violence. The black informants of this time witnessed first hand the white communities oppression of the black people. Keeping blacks in constant debt to whites by negotiating labor contracts in jail is just one example of many. All of these are examples of just how volatile the relationship between blacks and whites were during the 1930s.15

Fortunately, the issues of racial violence did not seem to play a role in the interview between Aunt Carrie Mason and Mrs. Estelle Burke. Though she never admits to seeing any violence on the plantation first hand, she does tell the stories that her mother told her about runaways and murderers. An interesting observation that Mrs. Burke dares to ask is about Mr. George Mason’s skin color. She asks why the formers slave’s husband is white? Aunt Mason is not scared to admit that her mother-in-law had been raped by her owner, and Mr. George Mason was born. Mrs. Burke seems a little surprised and ask if they inherited anything from Mr. Mason’s father. Again, Aunt Carrie answers as if she is surprised by the questions answering, “No mam, George’s pa didn’ leave him no lan’ when he died.”16

I feel that there is a strong relationship between the study of the Great Depression and issues of race during the 1930s with these slave narratives. In the interview between Aunt Carrie and Mrs. Burke, it’s obvious the economic state black people live in during this time, but one would have to look deeper to see that Aunt Carrie may be holding back things that really happen. That may be the case in this interview and it may not be, I thought Aunt Carrie was pretty brave describing what she did. The 1930s were difficult times for Americans, and even more difficult for African-Americans because of the added struggles of white supremacy. Hopefully, further exploration of these narratives will give a better understanding of the Great Depression.

1. Stephanie Shaw, “Using the WPA Ex-Slave Narratives to Study the Impact of the Great Depression,” The Journal of Southern History, vol. LXIX, no 3 (August 2003): 624; Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936-1938, http://memory.loc.gov/mss/mesn/043/113110.gif.

2. Ralph McGill, The South and the Southerner (Athens and London: The University of Georgia Press, 1992), 160-161.

3. Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives form the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936-1938, http://memory.loc.gov/mss/mesn/043/113110.gif.; Shaw, TJSH, 635-636.

4. Roger Biles, “The Urban South in the Great Depression,” The Journal of Southern History, Vol. LVI, no.1 (February 1990): 73; Georgia M. Fredrickson, The Comparative Imagination: On the History of Racism, Nationalism, and Social Movements, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997): 120; McGill, The South and the Southerner, 165.

5. Norman R. Yetman, Slave Narratives: An Introduction to the WPA Slave Narratives, p7, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snintro07.html.

6. Yetman, An Introduction to the WPA Slave Narratives, p7.

7. Norman R. Yetman, Slave Narratives: An Introduction to the WPA Slave Narratives, p10, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snintro10.html.

8. Sharon Ann Musher, “Contesting “The Way the Almighty Wants It:” Crafting Memories of Ex-Slaves in the Slave Narrative Collection,” American Quarterly, Vol. 53, no. 1 (March 2001): 4-5.

9. Norman R. Yetman, Slave Narratives: An Introduction to the WPA Slave Narratives, p8, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snintro08.html.

10. John W. Blassingame, “Using the Testimony of Ex-Slaves: Approaches and Problems,” The Journal of Southern History, Vol. XLI, no. 4 (November 1975): 487-488; Yetman, Introduction to WPA Slave Narratives, p8.

11. The Union Recorder, Vol. 38 (May 1937): 1; 1930 Census, www.ancestry.com, 2004.

12. The Union Recorder, Vol. 38 (May 1937): 1; 1930 Census, www.ancestry.com, 2004.

13. Norman R. Yetman, “Ex-Slave Interviews and The Historiography of Slavery,” American Quarterly, Vol. 36 (1984): 187-188.

14. Bile, TJSH, 94-98.

15. Blassingame, GJSH, 482.

16. 1930 Census, www.ancestry.com, 2004.