Ceceil George was born roughly in 1846, in “Great Swamp Plantation” in Colleton County, South Carolina. Whilst there is little information to be found about the original plantation George was born into, George describes the ‘corn and rice’ which was grown there. George describes a big house which indicates that it was a large wealthy plantation. During the interview, it becomes clear that George was part of the domestic slave trade, as she travelled by boat after her family were purchased by a ‘Dick Proctor’ from Louisiana. Research into the domestic slave trade show that George may have travelled either along the Eastern coastline or through the Mississippi river to arrive at New Orleans. The first is the most likely as she describes ‘an’ see nothing’, but sky an’ water’, which suggests the sea.

Historiography written on the maritime slave trade describes enslaved people being able to sit up on the deck during the day and weren’t chained down for the whole journey; this correlates with George’s experience as she talks about being up on the deck during the day. Records have been found of a ‘Ceceil’ who travelled into New Orleans via the coast in May 1856 from Charleston, which matches roughly matches the timings that George gives her arrival. Whilst it cannot be certain it is George; this record shows the document demonstrates how enslaved people were documented through the domestic slave trade. The record states that George was brought to New Orleans by a company named ‘Street Brothers’, however there was little record of this company therefore further research is needed.

George’s second plantation was in St. Bernard Parish, near New Orleans and she was brought by Richard Proctor who owned a sugar cane plantation. George describes it as a ‘big place’ with all the ‘houses packed wid people’. The 1860 slave census shows that Proctor owned about 119 enslaved people when George would have been living there, however there is little record to how large in acres the plantation was. Compared to other plantations on the census, this shows that this plantation was large and indicates Proctor was wealthy. George was emancipated here at the age of 19 and there is a record showing that Proctor fought as a confederate soldier in the Civil War. A problem with WPA interviews is that the interviewer does not clarify certain details throughout the interview process. For example, George names this plantation as ‘Florizone’, which is followed by a question mark and the name is not clarified by the interviewer, Maude Wallace. Upon further research, there seem to be no records of a ‘Florizone’ plantation, and therefore further research is needed into Proctor’s plantation.Sugar plantations were notoriously hard work; there has been plenty of historiography written on the conditions of the plantations, including yearlong work and working hours from dawn until dusk. George’s experiences of working on a sugar plantation have been included in the works of Richard Follett, who explores the conditions of sugar cane plantations in Louisiana.ii Her quote ‘We come to de mos’ wicked country dat our God’s son ever died for!’ has been used to emphasise the appalling nature of the work for slaves in Louisiana.iii It is interesting to historians that this quote has been included in the interview, as the interviewer could have edited to ensure Louisiana did not look worse than other states, especially as George compares it to South Carolina.

George mentions that she was part of a field gang; she would have probably been part of a second field gang which included tasks such as weeding the cane and clearing pastures.iv At the end of the interview, George recalls a song which they used to sing ‘from de old country’ to which the interviewer has marked ‘(S.C)’, meaning South Carolina. This could correlate with George’s impression that the enslaver in South Carolina was kinder than her enslaver in Louisiana, and therefore allowed such songs to be created and sung. As historian Gary A. Donaldson points out, ‘little information exists on the cultural traits of African slaves’, therefore interviews such as this one is so important in understanding slave culture and community which was established.v The interview for George took place in New Orleans at 121 Columbus St on February 15th, 1940.

Maude Wallace was the interviewer and whilst further research is needed into Maude to examine her role upon the interview, from the transcripts, historians are able to analyse the text for editing and her influence. Details of Wallace show that she was a white woman, therefore her race could cause concern as she may have already racial prejudices, which could have influenced the interview. Whilst there is little evidence to show editing in the interview, Wallace does frequently write ‘Illegible’ when she does not understand something George has said, this therefore gives the impression that George is uneducated, and also key details of the interview are lost as she did not enquire further clarification. Wallace conducted 6 interviews for the WPA; there appears to be no editing of her work, however she does at the beginning of every interview, write a description of the interviewees including their skin tone. For George, she is described as ‘very dark’ whilst other interviewees such as Sister Lydia had ‘deep brown skin’. This may have influenced the interview as Wallace is creating an impression of the interviewees due to their skin tone as Lydia had a lighter skin which corresponded with Maude’s remark ‘her speech is more cultured than most of the coloured people in Pailet Lane’. These descriptions may demonstrate a deeper racial prejudice which could have affected the way she conducted her interviews and their outcomes, and therefore how readers perceived these formerly enslaved people.

Primary Sources

‘Ceceil’, New Orleans, Louisiana, Slave Manifests, 1807-1860 (last accessed: 18/03/2021)https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=1562&h=65817&indiv=try

Mary Proctor in the 1860 U.S. Federal Census – Slave Schedules (last accessed: 18/03/2021)https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=7668&h=93051768&indiv=tryRichard Proctor in the 1860 U.S. Federal Census – Slave Schedules (last accessed 18/03/2021)

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/7668/images/lam653_431-0016?ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnRichard Proctor – Confederate Soldiers Index, 1861-1865 (last accessed 18/03/2021):

https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=3199&h=77497&tid=&pid=&queryId=5379c875903b922418c19b4e7f5351eb&usePUB=true&_phsrc=nta913&_phstart=successSource1860 Slave Census Schedules & 1870 Census (last accessed 18/03/2021)

https://sites.rootsweb.com/~ajac/lastbernard.htmi Calvin Schermerhorn, ‘Capitalism’s Captives: The Maritime United States Slave Trade, 1807-1850’, Journal of Social History, vol 47:4 (Summer 2014), 904

Secondary

ii Richard Follett, ‘Slavery and Plantation Capitalism in Louisiana’s Sugar Country’, American Nineteenth Century History, vol 1:3 (2000), 14

iii Follet, ‘Slavery and Plantation Capitalism in Louisiana’s Sugar Country’, 14

iv Richard S. Dunn, ‘A Tale of Two Plantations: Slave Life at Mesopotamia in Jamaica and Mount Airy in Virginia, 1799 to 1828’, The William and Mary Quarterly, vol 34:1 (January 1977), 51

v Gary A. Donaldson, ‘A Window on Slave Culture: Dances at Congo Square in New Orleans, 1800-1862’, The Journal of Negro History, vol 69:2 (Spring 1984), 63