In 1937, the Federal Writers' Project began collecting what would become the largest archive of interviews with formerly enslaved African Americans. Few firsthand accounts exist from those who suffered enslavement, making this an exceptional resource for students of history. However, as with all historical documents, there are important considerations for students to bear in mind when reading these sources. In this lesson, students examine three of these accounts to answer the question: What can we learn about slavery from interviews with former slaves?
Image: Photograph of Tempie Herndon Durham, a formerly enslaved woman, taken in 1937. From the Library of Congress.