In the 1930s, in the context of the Great Depression, more than 2300 interviews were conducted with elderly formerly enslaved people. These interviews offer precious first-hand testimony of what it meant to be enslaved and are invaluable for understanding life under slavery and racial dynamics in the context of Jim Crow.
In the second-year module 'Gender, Race and Slavery in the United States', students are asked to complete a research-based assignment based on an interview conducted as part of the Federal Writers' Project in the 1930s. In this assignment students use a variety of online archives and genealogy tools alongside the interviews to piece together and better understand what life was like under slavery and after emancipation.
Importantly, students are also encouraged to research the white and Black interviewers to understand their background, agendas and how they might have shaped and manipulated interviews. This micro-historical research is vital for overcoming the methodological challenges associated with using these interviews, and revealing the experiences of individuals born into slavery in the United States.