Interviews are an important way to experience what actually happened in the past when we were not there to live through it ourselves. 1 The interview that I looked at did not focus on slavery, but more on her experiences as a child and what made her happy during that time. This is a good example of the concept learned through the class readings about how the former slaves who were interviewed were children at the time of slavery, and thus were unlikely to remember most of what happened. 2 Celia Black definitely spoke highly of her childhood, and when asked about historical moments, like Abraham Lincoln’s presidency, she was unable to recall the event. My timeline shows this, as well as the idea that the history we are taught is focused mainly on large historical events that affect the country, or the world, but are not necessarily pivotal to the individual. To Celia, her greatest memory was her birthday.
Celia was born towards the end of institutionalized slavery, so it was not surprising that she did not remember what may have happened with her family during that time. It was interesting that she never spoke about political events because I expected her to remember these instead of the smaller day to day activities that she had as a child. It was like she wanted to talk about what made her happy throughout her life.
As mentioned above, it was useful to listen to somebody who lived through the time period that is being researched, rather than reading about it in a textbook because it is more honest and raw. However, it was difficult to understand what she was saying because she had a thick accent, and was struggling to remember answers to the questions, and stuttered over her words. This is a limitation in recorded interviews, and in order to receive the correct information it is helpful to have a typed record as well (which was included by the Library of Congress). Celia and the interviewer, Elmer, while both southerners, had very different voices. It was apparent that they were raised in different areas, where Elmer was likely educated, and Celia may not have had a formal language education, a stereotype noted in one of the readings. 3
After experiencing both oral and written histories, I feel that oral interviews give a better sense of the emotional component of the past, but it is difficult to decipher exactly what is said. A transcript of the interview may be better for research purposes as it would remove the chance of recording any discrepancies in the information.
My Timeline:
- “The Importance of the Slave Narrative Collection,” Library of Congress, accessed October 16, 2019, https://www.loc.gov/collections/slave-narratives-from-the-federal-writers-project-1936-to-1938/articles-and-essays/introduction-to-the-wpa-slave-narratives/importance-of-the-slave-narratives-collection/
- “The Limitations of the Slave Narrative Collection: Problems of Memory,” Library of Congress, accessed October 15, 2019, https://www.loc.gov/collections/slave-narratives-from-the-federal-writers-project-1936-to-1938/articles-and-essays/introduction-to-the-wpa-slave-narratives/limitations-of-the-slave-narrative-collection/
- “A Note on the Language of Narratives,” Library of Congress, accessed October 15, 2019 https://www.loc.gov/collections/slave-narratives-from-the-federal-writers-project-1936-to-1938/articles-and-essays/note-on-the-language-of-the-narratives/#note
