Review: When I Was a Slave: Memoirs from the Slave Narrative Collection

When I Was a Slave: Memoirs from the Slave Narrative Collection by Norman R. Yetman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This short book is a collection of slave narratives gathered through interviews during the 1930s by interviewers of the WPA's Federal Writers' Project. There are a total of 34 narratives from slaves throughout the south. Each tells his or her own story that includes the moment when they learned they had been emancipated. They all lived a hard life. Some had more fond memories of their family and even their master's family, but most show the cruel treatment they endured and the lack of life-sustaining provisions, such as food, clothes, and rest.

What I found interesting was the age of all of these slaves. For them to have lived without so many needs being met, with a lack of decent food, they all lived to at least their late 80s and even into the 100s. Obviously, these are resilient people. It makes you wonder what they could have accomplished in life if circumstances were different.

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