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WPA*
Early Settlers' Personal Histories of
African Americans in Arkansas
Among
the many relief efforts after the 1929 Depression,
WPA Federal Writers' Project workers interviewed everyday
people with the aim of publishing anthologies on different
aspects of life in America. Two hundred thirty-three
persons were interviewed in Arkansas under this program.
The originals of questionnaires used to record information
during the interviews are preserved in the University
Libraries' Special Collections. Transcriptions of
questionnaires from interviews with seventeen African
Americans interviewed in Arkansas under this project
are represented here.
Background information is available in an article
by Andrea Cantrell in the Arkansas
Historical Quarterly 63
(Spring 2004).
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WPA
Personal History interview with
Harry Parker, Yell County, Arkansas,
December 11, 1940, page 1.
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Similar
life history interviews from other states (though none from
the
Arkansas project) are available
online
in "American
Life
Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers Project, 1939-1940,"
Library of Congress, Manuscripts Division,
and in These
Are Our Lives (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina
Press, 1939) and Such
as Us: Southern Voices of the Thirties by Tom E. Terrill
and Jerrold Hirsch (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina
Press, 1978).
The personal history interviews are both similar to, and different
from, interviews conducted in the WPA Ex-Slave Narratives
project. More information about the Ex-Slave Narratives for
persons from Arkansas is available in Bearing
Witness: Memories of Arkansas Slavery Narratives from the
1930s WPA Collections, edited by George E. Lankford
(Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2003) and "Born
in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project,
1936-1938," Library
of Congress, Manuscripts Division.
You may reach transcriptions of the early settlers' personal
histories of African Americans interviewed in Arkansas through
the following categories:
Individual
African-American personal history interviewees (in alphabetical
order)
Interviewees
by Arkansas county of residence at time of interview (ca.
1941)
Interviewees
by place of birth
Interviewees
by place in which they were slaves, if applicable
Interviewees
by name of slaveholder, if applicable
Notes
from Transcriber
*Originally,
WPA was the acronym for the United States Work Progress Administration,
1935-1939. In 1939, the program was renamed Work Projects
Administration.
Oral history transcripts require Adobe Acrobat Reader. This
can be downloaded free of charge. Individual
African-American personal history interviewees
Blakeley, Adeline
Childs, Recebba
(Mrs. Jessie Childs)
Edwards, Laura Jackson (Mrs. John Edwards)
Johnson, Chess
May, Ike
McKinley, A.R.
Mitchell, Ben
Moore, Primus
Newton, Pate
Parker, Harry
Reed, Lawston
Royal, Emma (Mrs. John Royal)
Smith, William
Sutton, Malinda (Mrs. Eligah Sutton)
Tellington, Frank
Washington, George
William, Author
Interviewees
by Arkansas county of residence at time of interview (ca. 1941)
County
of Interview |
Interviewee |
Crawford |
Childs,
Recebba (Mrs. Jessie Childs) |
| Crawford |
William,
Author |
| Hempstead |
Johnson,
Chess |
| Hempstead |
McKinley,
A.R. |
| Hempstead |
Moore,
Primus |
| Hempstead |
Reed,
Lawston |
| Hempstead |
Royal,
Emma (Mrs. John Royal) |
| Hempstead |
Smith,
William |
| Hempstead |
Sutton,
Malinda (Mrs. Eligah Sutton) |
| Hempstead |
Tellington,
Frank |
| Johnson |
Newton,
Pate |
| Lonoke |
Washington,
George |
| Washington |
Blakeley,
Adeline |
| Yell |
Edwards,
Laura Jackson (Mrs. John Edwards) |
| Yell |
May,
Ike |
| Yell |
Parker,
Harry |
Interviewees
by place of birth
State |
Place
or County |
Interviewee |
| Arkansas |
Columbus |
Johnson,
Chess |
| Arkansas |
Dardanelle |
May,
Ike |
| Arkansas |
Hempstead |
Mitchell,
Ben |
| Arkansas |
Hempstead
Co. |
Smith,
William |
| Arkansas |
Johnson
Co. |
Newton,
Pate |
| Arkansas |
Lewisville |
McKinley,
A.R. |
| Arkansas |
Little
River Co. |
Sutton,
Malinda (Mrs. Eligah Sutton) |
| Arkansas |
Washington
|
Moore,
Primus |
| Arkansas |
Yell
Co. |
Parker,
Harry |
| Georgia |
Macon |
Mitchell,
Ben |
| Louisiana |
Chatteau
Parish |
Reed,
Lawston |
| Mississippi |
[not
given] |
Edwards,
Laura Jackson (Mrs. John Edwards) |
| N.
Carolina |
Bradie |
William,
Author |
| N.
Carolina |
Clinton |
Tellington,
Frank |
| S.
Carolina |
[not
given] |
Childs,
Recebba (Mrs. Jessie Childs) |
| Tennessee |
Hickman
Co. |
Blakeley,
Adeline |
| Tennessee |
Shelby |
Washington,
George |
| Texas
|
Corsicana |
Royal,
Emma (Mrs. John Royal) |
Interviewees
by place in which they were slaves, if applicable
Place |
Interviewee |
| Arkansas |
Blakeley,
Adeline |
Arkansas
(after Mississippi) |
Edwards,
Laura Jackson
(Mrs. John Edwards) |
| Arkansas |
Parker,
Harry |
| Georgia |
Mitchell,
Ben |
| Arkansas |
Newton,
Pate |
Mississippi
(then Arkansas) |
Edwards,
Laura Jackson
(Mrs. John Edwards) |
| Texas |
Royal,
Emma (Mrs. John Royal) |
| Not
given |
Johnson,
Chess |
| Not
given |
Moore,
Primus |
| Not
given |
Reed,
Lawston |
| Not
given |
Smith,
William |
| Not
given |
Sutton,
Malinda (Mrs. Eligah Sutton) |
Interviewees by name of
slaveholder, if applicable
Slaveholder
|
Interviewee |
| Blakeley,
Nora |
Blakeley,
Adeline |
| Dixon,
Bill |
Mitchell,
Ben |
| Hudgens,
Mrs. Harvey M. |
Blakeley,
Adeline |
| Jackson,
Mrs. Elsie |
Edwards,
Laura Jackson (Mrs. John Edwards) |
| Melton,
Johnson |
Royal,
Emma (Mrs. John Royal) |
| Newton,
_______ |
Newton,
Pate |
| Parker,
John M. |
Parker,
Harry |
| Parkes,
John |
Blakeley,
Adeline |
| Not
given |
Johnson,
Chess |
| Not
given |
Moore,
Primus |
| Not
given |
Smith,
William |
| Not
given |
Sutton,
Malinda (Mrs. Eligah Sutton) |
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Last
modified: Friday, July 01, 2005
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