Understanding slave narratives from first hand accounts is an important step in beginning to understand the atrocities that came with slavery. The 1930s provided a time where the slaves from the nineteenth century had not passed away yet therefore their stories of listen1 were able to be used in understanding the narratives that former slaves had to offer. Understanding slave narratives during the 1930s may not have been as important to the people of the time as it is today. This shows the important work that John and Ruby Lomax were doing during the 1930s and how it impacts the current discourse around the issues of slavery in the twentieth century. Perhaps John Lomax would have released an article regarding the creation of content for the future similar to Ian Milligan’s article where he discusses the creation of content for the “record of tomorrow.”2
The collection of Voices Remembering Slavery: Freed People Tell Their Stories is a unique moment in history where the former American slaves were given the opportunity to share their experiences. It could be argued that the former slaves were activists of their time however it was in a very passive manner. The Civil Rights movement had not began yet but having the ability to share their stories in an attempt to shed light on the realities of slavery is a form of activism because the ultimate goal is to promote equality. The personal story that uncle Billy McCrea shared with John and Ruby Lomax, listen3, provide the listeners with a snippet of a personal experience regarding the transactions of human people during the nineteenth century. This is an important interview to listen to for the modern day understanding of how slavery impacted the lives of those who were fortunate enough to outlive the atrocities of slavery. The Library of Congress describes the slave narrative archives far better than my abilities allow me, “The WPA narratives thus constitute an illuminating and invaluable source of data about antebellum and post-Emancipation Southern life, the institution of slavery, and, most important, the reactions and perspectives of those who had been enslaved.”4
- Interview with Uncle Billy McCrea, Jasper, Texas, 1940 Voices Remembering Slavery: Freed People Tell Their Stories, Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc1940003_afs03975a/
- Milligan, Ian. “Historians’ Archival Research Looks Quite Different in the Digital Age.” The Conversation, August 19, 2019. http://theconversation.com/historians-archival-research-looks-quite-different-in-the-digital-age-121096?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=twitterbutton.
- Interview with Uncle Billy McCrea, Jasper, Texas, 1940 (part 2 of 2), Voices Remembering Slavery: Freed People Tell Their Stories, Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/collections/voices-remembering-slavery/about-this-collection/
- “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 December 3, 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/.
