The Slave Narrative Collection, composed of some 2,000 inter-
views with former slaves in 17 states, was done by federal writers
under auspices of the Works Progress Administration during the
1930s. ¹ The interviews are invaluable since they tell of the life and
labor of slaves from the slaves' view: how it felt to be a slave, the
treatment they received, and their general activity on the planta-
tion or in the city. More than this, the narratives record the attitudes
of former slaves, their feelings of dejection and hopelessness or of
resistance and rebellion while in bondage. Slaves were aware of
their "wretchedness in consequence of ignorance" and expressed
great joy when freedom came. They remembered the rise and fall
of the Republican Party in the South and the meaninglessness of
guarantees under the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. In
old age, they were contemporaries of Franklin Delano Roosevelt
and many of them spoke of him and his "pension" plan with af-
fection and respect.

The quality of the narratives varies, depending largely upon the
talent of the interviewer. Since the collection is valuable as Negro
folklore, all of the interviews should have been recorded verbatim
in the Negro dialect. Since all are not, those reported in the words
of the federal writer are less desirable. Another flaw is the great
exaggeration in certain of the narratives; caution must be used when

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