The specific interview I listened to was with Fountain Hughes, a former slave, and he discusses what life was like after being enslaved. Thinking back to when I was in middle school history class, I just remember learning about who slaves were, the Civil War, and when the war ended, but never anything about the lives of the enslaved people after the war. These interviews really bring to life how enslaved people began to really live in freedom.
The timelines intersect very similarly. Historians would define the years that Hughes was enslaved as the Civil War era, but Hughes would define those years much differently because he was living during that time. On my timeline, the year 1845 was an important one to Hughes and to the country. Historians would look at 1845 and immediately think of Texas’ Congress voting for annexation to the U.S., but Hughes would look at it and know that was the year he began working as a slave. It’s just interesting how years have different meanings to different people, groups, etc.
I was surprised that Hughes never mentioned a marriage or any of his friends in the interview. He did discuss his family a bit, but he didn’t dive much into his friendships, especially his friendships after being freed. A part of me wanted to learn more about his relationships in Baltimore 1 and how well he settled in there after being freed. This interview, however, was very useful in painting a visual of what it was like being enslaved and their daily lives. The stories that Hughes told about the people he worked for and what he did for them really helped me imagine it more clear. Limitations of this interview might be the rambling that Hughes went on. Some of his rambling confused me a bit and he bounced from thought to thought a bit, but it’s understandable considering he said he was 101 years old during it. It challenged my view of oral history for sure. It proved to me that oral history can definitely help you learn more vs. written history (glancing at a textbook).
It was a bit hard to understand the dialogue at some points. 2 I could tell the recording device was quite old, but it did bring an immense amount of authenticity and a genuine feel to the oral history being told. Transcribing the sources wouldn’t be able to convey the emotion 3 that I could hear on the audio. Hearing the emotion let me identify what events were important to Hughes by the way he was talking about it.
This interview can show that in the 1930s, people weren’t afraid to talk about slavery and learn more about it. The interviewer in this specific interview sounded very respectful towards Hughes, which is something that wouldn’t have happened years prior due to the racism held in the country.
Norwood, Hermond, and Fountain Hughes. Interview with Fountain Hughes, Baltimore, Maryland. Baltimore, Maryland, November , 6, 1949. Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc1950037_afs09990a/.
“Slave Narratives from Slavery to the Great Depression : An Introduction to the WPA Slave Narratives : Articles and Essays : Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936-1938 : Digital Collections : Library of Congress.” The Library of Congress. Accessed October 24, 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/slave-narratives-from-slavery-to-the-great-depression/.
“A Note on the Language of the Narratives : Articles and Essays : Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936-1938 : Digital Collections : Library of Congress.” The Library of Congress. Accessed October 24, 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.
- Learning more about what he did in Baltimore, where he lived, and how he got used to it would’ve been great.
- ” The interviewers were writers, not professionals trained in the phonetic transcription of speech” , “A Note on the Language of the Narratives : Articles and Essays : Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936-1938 : Digital Collections : Library of Congress.” The Library of Congress. Accessed October 24, 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.
- Hughes’ voice made listening to oral history much more appealing than reading it.
