“Born a good while before freedom”
Using Oral Histories to Understand the Experience of American Slavery in the 19 th Century
Social Studies, Arkansas History, US History
Grades: 8-12
Students will examine oral histories with former slaves (“the slave narratives”) collected by the
Federal Writers’ Project in the 1930s to gain an understanding of what life was like for African
Americans in slavery and following emancipation in the 19th century.1 Lesson activities include a
group analysis of two FWP narratives using a 5W graphic organizer, and a creative writing
exercise constructing a narrative based on the life of an individual mentioned in one of the
attached slave sale documents, incorporating relevant details gleaned from reading the FWP
narratives.
Essential Question:
How were African Americans living in Arkansas in the 19th century affected by slavery and
freedom?
Arkansas Curriculum Frameworks: TBD
Common Core Standards: ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.6; ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.8; ELA-Literacy.W.1112.3.b; and ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.3.d.
C3 Frameworks: D2.His.4.9-12; D2.His.6.9-12; D2.His.7.9-12; D2.His.8.9-12; D2.His.10.6-8; and
D2.His.10.9-12.
Lesson Objectives:
1. To understand how multiple sources with sometimes conflicting or contradictory
information can be analyzed to gain an accurate or representative view of an historical
event.
2. To strengthen writing skills through the development of a first-person narrative,
incorporating relevant words, phrases and details to convey a realistic picture of life
during the historical period in question.
Supplementary Literature Readings: 47 by Walter Moseley (2006); Come August, Come Freedom: The
Bellows, The Gallows and the Black General Gabriel by Gigi Amateau (2012); Copper Sun by Sharon M.
Draper (2008); Day of Tears by Julius Lester (2005); The Ever-After Bird by Ann Rinaldi (2007); Harriet
Tubman, Secret Agent: How Daring Slaves and Free Blacks Spied for the Union During the Civil War by
1 Before reading narratives aloud or assigning slave narratives for analysis, teachers will want to prepare students for the language
and for the content that they may encounter in the slave narratives.
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Thomas B. Allen (2006); The Land by Mildred D. Taylor (2001); The Letter Writer by Ann Rinaldi (2008);
Letters from a Slave Girl: The Story of Harriet Jacobs by Mary E. Lyons (1992); Mine Eyes Have Seen by Ann
Rinaldi (1998); Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen (1993); North by Night by Katherine Ayres (1998); Sarny by
Gary Paulsen (1993); Stealing Freedom by Elisa Carbone (1998); Stealing South by Katherine Ayres (1998);
Trouble Don’t Last by Shelley Pearsall (2002); Underground by Jean Ferris (2007).
Materials Needed:
Graphic organizer worksheet for analyzing perspectives (sample provided)
Writing Utensils, including highlighters
Notebook
Internet Access
Handouts from cited Internet sources
Suggested Timeline:
Three 50-minute class periods.
Related Encyclopedia of Arkansas Entries (EOA):
African Americans
Emancipation
WPA Slave Narratives
Arkansas Writers Project
Bernie Babcock (1868-1962)
Samuel Shinkle Taylor (1886-1956)
Slave Codes
Slavery
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Resources Included/Linked:
Works Progress Administration, Federal Writers’ Project Slave Narratives, 1936-1938.2 :
Name
Alexander, Fannie
Alexander, Lucretia
Geographic Location
Helena
Little Rock
Anderson, Charles
Helena
Anderson, W. A.
Arberry, Katie
Little Rock
Pine Bluff
Armstrong, Campbell
Little Rock
“Aunt” Adeline
Fayetteville
Badgett, Joseph S.
Baltimore, William
Banks, Mose
Barnett, Josephine Ann
Benford, Bob
Blake, Henry
Blakeley, Adeline
Brown, Lewis
Brown, William
Chase, Lewis
Clements, Mariah S.
Little Rock and Dallas
County
Pine Bluff
[El Dorado]
DeValls Bluff
Pine Bluff and Union
County
Little Rock
Fayetteville
Pine Bluff
North Little Rock and
Cross County
Des Arc
DeValls Bluff
Crane, Sallie
Hempstead County
Culp, Zenia
El Dorado
Topics Covered
Education; Family; Food; Work
Civil War; Family; Freedom; Religion; Sales;
Treatment; Work
Civil War; Clothing; Food; Freedom; Sales; Voting;
Work
Ku Klux Klan
Civil War; Education; Food; Freedom; Medicine;
Sales; Treatment; Work
Entertainment; Family; Food; Freedom; Living
Conditions; Marriage; Sales; Treatment; Voting;
Work
Childhood; Civil War; Education; Family; Food;
Freedom; Sales; Treatment
Education; Family; Freedom; Ku Klux Klan;
Marriage; Medicine; Treatment; Work
Civil War; Family; Treatment; Work
Education; Living Conditions; Railroad; Religion;
Treatment; Work
Civil War; Education; Family; Freedom; Voting;
Work
Christmas; Clothing; Education; Family; Freedom;
Ku Klux Klan; Treatment; Voting; Work
Family; Freedom; Ku Klux Klan; Religion; Sales;
Treatment; Work
Civil War; Education; Freedom; Treatment
Freedom; Treatment; Voting
Civil War; Education; Family; Food; Living
Conditions; Marriage; Ku Klux Klan; Politics; Sales;
Treatment
Civil War; Clothing; Family; Freedom; Slave Sales;
Treatment; Voting
Civil War; Clothing; Food; Ku Klux Klan; Living
Conditions
Civil War; Family; Food; Freedom; Housing; Living
Conditions; Slave Sales; Treatment; Work
Family; Housing; Treatment; Work
2
For this lesson, a selection of the transcripts from the interviews conducted with African Americans who primarily lived in
Arkansas during slavery have been digitized and are linked here. Many of the interviews conducted in Arkansas were with African
Americans who had relocated from other states after Emancipation. By the late 1870s, Arkansas had gained a reputation for
greater racial tolerance than many states east of the Mississippi River. Therefore, many former slaves from Alabama, Mississippi,
Tennessee and other southeastern states relocated to Arkansas in the latter decades of the 19 th century. Thomas A. DeBlack,
With Fire and Sword: Arkansas 1861-1874 (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2003).
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Davis, Jeff
Marvell, Phillips County
Dortch, Charles Green
Princeton, Dallas
County
Dorum, Fannie
North Little Rock
Dothrum, Silas
Fergusson, Lou Mrs.
Fikes, Frank
Fortenberry, Julia
Franklin, Leonard
Freeman, Mittie
Tatum, Fannie
Little Rock
Hot Springs and
Hempstead County
El Dorado
Hamburg and Little
Rock
Warren and Little Rock
Camden and North
Little Rock
El Dorado
Civil War; Family; Freedom; Superstitions;
Treatment; Voting; Work
Childhood; Education; Family; Food; Freedom;
Housing; Ku Klux Klan; Marriage; Politics;
Treatment; Work
Education; Family; Food; Freedom; Living
Conditions; Treatment; Work
Family; Freedom; Living Conditions; Treatment
Civil War; Education; Marriage; Treatment
Civil War; Clothing; Education; Food; Freedom;
Living Conditions; Religion; Treatment; Work
Education; Family; Freedom; Living Conditions;
Marriage; Religion; Work
Education; Family; Freedom; Religion; Sales;
Treatment
Civil War; Family; Freedom; Ku Klux Klan; Sales;
Treatment; Voting; Work
Clothing; Education; Family; Food; Living
Conditions; Religion; Treatment
Slave Sale Primary Documents/Links:
Charles Ritchie Sale Certification, circa 1820s
Lawson Estate Sale Sign, 1857
David Nicol Bill of Sale, 1861
Isham Harrell Bill of Sale, 1857
Samuel Lawrence Bill of Sale, 1860
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Key Terms:
Oral History
Secondary Source
13th Amendment
Federal Writers Project
Primary Source
Emancipation Proclamation
Works Progress Administration
Chattel Slavery
Key Terms Defined:
Oral History -- the recollections and opinions of contemporary persons concerning historical
events in which they participated, usually in the form of tape-recorded interviews.
Primary Source – document or physical object that was written or created during the time under
study. They offer an insider’s view of an experience, event or time period. Some examples of
primary sources are original documents, creative works, and artifacts.
Secondary Source – interprets and analyzes primary sources. Examples are textbooks, histories,
encyclopedias.
Emancipation Proclamation -- the proclamation by President Lincoln on January 1, 1863, that
declared free all persons held as slaves within any state or part of a state then in armed rebellion.
13th (or Thirteenth) Amendment – primary piece of legislation that ended slavery in the United
States. Became part of the US Constitution on December 6, 1865.
Works Progress Administration (WPA) -- a work program for the unemployed that was created
in 1939 under U. S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt as part of the New Deal to provide economic
relief during the Great Depression.
Federal Writers’ Project (FWP) – a work program that was part of the WPA, which employed
writers, editors and researchers works, primarily on two major projects – The American Guide
Series and the Slave Narratives.
Chattel – a piece of property that is not real estate; any movable possession. Furniture,
automobiles, and animals are chattels. Also a slave or a bondman.
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Teacher Background
The teacher will introduce students to the slave narratives as a way of understanding what life
was like for enslaved African Americans in the 19th century, and to understand how former slaves
perceived their lives had been affected by freedom. The teachers will want to review with
students or have them read and discuss the Encyclopedia of Arkansas article on the WPA Slave
Narratives, which outlines why some historians question the reliability of the slave narratives as
a source of information on slavery. This review should provide teachers with an opportunity to
address the first lesson objective – using multiple sources, with sometimes conflicting or
contradictory information, to gain an accurate or representative view of an historical event, as
not all of the persons interviewed for this project present the same interpretation of past events.
Despite whatever limitations the slave narratives may pose, they are still the largest body of firstperson accounts of slavery that exist for the study of slavery in the United States today. These
oral histories can provide a lot of valuable information that might not be found in more traditional
histories and details that documents often do not provide. In discussing the narratives as a source
for learning about slavery, ask students to imagine what kind of information might exist from
their own time about their lives. What might future historians learn about them as people based
only on documents, like their birth certificates? They might learn the city in which they were
born, their birth date, and the name of their parent(s); but a birth certificate would not convey
personal details about them. Would historians be able to know what kind of food they liked to
eat based on documents? Probably not. This is where oral history becomes valuable.
We come to understand the usefulness of the slave narratives when we study documents like the
1860 slave bill of sale between Samuel Lawrence and Samuel Evans for Milly. All we learn about
Milly from the document is that she is 22-years old and considered to be “sound in body and
mind.” While important evidence of the history of slavery, the document leaves out much of the
story. After reading the bill of sale, the reader might wonder what Milly’s life was like. What did
it mean for her to be sold? Was she separated from a husband or other family members in the
sale? Did she have children and if so, was she able to raise her children to adulthood? We might
never know these kinds of details without the oral histories. Oral histories often provide details
that ordinarily would be lost. They give the reader a deeper understanding of the lives of the
people telling their stories.
To prepare students for understanding when slavery was introduced to Arkansas, where and why
it developed as it did, have them read and discuss with them the Encyclopedia of Arkansas (EOA)
entry on Slavery. The EOA entries on African Americans, Slave Codes and Emancipation will also
be useful for providing context for understanding the Arkansas slave narratives.
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Activities
Activity 1: Examining a 19th century Arkansas Slave Narrative: Analyzing Perspectives
Divide students into two groups for this activity. Following the review of how slavery developed
in the area that would become the United States and in Arkansas, teachers will provide students
with questions to guide their reading of the Arkansas slave narratives linked in this plan. Teachers
will want to ask students to consider questions like:









What kind of work did a slave perform?
Did slaves have families?
What kind of clothing did slaves have? Food? Houses?
What kind of education did slaves have?
How did former slaves feel about their former owners? What factors might
account for these feelings?
Were slaves mistreated by their owners? What does your narrative indicate?
Could where a slave lived in Arkansas have made a difference in how they
experienced slavery? If you think so, provide reasons for your answer.
How did freedom affect the experience of African Americans in Arkansas?
Did the lives of African Americans change during or after the Civil War? If so,
how?
Teachers may want to work with students to develop other questions they have about slavery
from their discussion and/or readings from their textbooks or Encyclopedia of Arkansas entries
linked in this lesson plan. Provide each group with a printed copy of two different narratives (4
different narratives total) from the list linked in this lesson plan, preferably narratives that the
teacher has pre-selected in advance and that offer differing or conflicting points of view. Provide
each student with two copies of the 5W’s graphic organizer provided in this plan. Ask the
students to read and discuss the narratives as a group, keeping in mind the list of questions
established for the activity, and highlighting information they found interesting, surprising or in
conflict or in common between the two narratives. Have students complete an analysis of each
narrative using a separate 5W’s graphic organizer for each narrative.
Once the students have had a chance to analyze and discuss the narratives and complete the
5W’s worksheet, bring them back together for a common discussion of the questions established
at the outset of this exercise, and of how sources that present multiple and sometimes
contradictory points of view can be analyzed to gain a representative view of a past event (e.g.,
finding common or repeated themes, verifying information with other sources like newspapers
or documents).
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Activity 2: Milly’s Story: Using Narrative Technique to Create Oral Histories for the Voiceless
Linked under Resources in this lesson plan are five primary source documents (and
transcriptions) from the collections at the Arkansas State Archives relating the sale of enslaved
African Americans in various parts of Arkansas in the 19th century. The documents tell us very
little about these people beyond their names and ages, where the sales took place, the amount
of money for which they were sold, the names of the people who sold them, and sometimes the
names of the people to whom they were sold. These documents provide teachers with an
opportunity to talk about one of the most dehumanizing aspects of being owned by another
person – to be chattel -- that is another person’s personal property. These documents also
reinforce the usefulness of the FWP slave narratives as a source for providing first-hand accounts
of information about slavery from those who experienced it.
For this assignment, students will work individually. Teachers will select one or more of the slave
sale documents to share with the class. Four of the documents contain the names of one or two
individuals, while one document (Lawson Estate) contains multiple names of enslaved people.
Ask students to select a person from one of the documents and create a 2-3 page narrative for
them, based on the FWP narratives they have just read and discussed. The narratives the
students create should be composed in first-person voice, and should include relevant detail,
which would reflect experiences that their person might have had as a man, woman or child living
as a slave before the Civil War in Arkansas and later in freedom. Ask them to keep in mind that
they are remembering events at a later period of their lives, as the individuals who were
interviewed for the FWP narratives did in the 1930s.
Suggestion: FWP interviewers worked from a list of questions provided to interviewees. You will
note the similar structure of the transcriptions as you read more of them. For this activity, it is
recommended that you provide students with questions, like those provided in the first activity,
to guide the development of their narrative. Once students have completed the creation of their
narratives, teachers may want to allow students to read their narratives aloud to the class.
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Certificate regarding sale of enslaved woman, Harriet, by Charles Ritchie,
Hempstead County, Arkansas, from William Hickman, circa 1820s, page 1
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Certificate regarding sale of enslaved woman, Harriet, by Charles Ritchie,
Hempstead County, Arkansas, from William Hickman, circa 1820s, page 1
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Transcription of Certificate regarding sale of enslaved woman, Harriet, by Charles Ritchie,
Hempstead County, Arkansas, from William Hickman, circa 1820s
In the case of the purchase made by Mr. Charles Ritchie of a negro woman slave named Harriet
it will be necessary to procure a certificate signed by two or more freeholders of the Hempstead
County in the Territory of Arkansas the most convenient neighbors to Mr. Wm. C. Hickman the
person from whom the said slave was purchased by Charles Ritchie from said Hickman
designating the Name, age, sex, and as near as possible, the size marks, and colour of said slave,
and the place where she was purchased, designating the name, age sex and as near as possible
the size marks and colour of said slave and the place where she was purchased, and from whom
purchased, which said certificate shall be signed by the said freeholders, accompanied by their
declaration on oath, that they have known the said slave for several years, and that she has not
within their knowledge been guilty, nor convicted of any crimes but that she has a good moral
character, and is not in the habit of running away.
The Foregoing certificate shall be given and signed before the Clerk of some Court of Record of
Hempstead County, and the said Certificate and declaration on oath of the said freeholder shall
also be accompanied by a declaration by the said Clerk, under the seal of the Court of which he
is Clerk, that the certificate was executed before him, that the said freeholders are men of good
character, and are not vendors It must also be stated that the oath Required was taken before
an officer duly authorized to administer an oath, and that the persons so certifying and declaring,
are indisputable and well known freeholders of the said County of Hempstead. It will be also
[page 2]
necessary that the declaration of the said Clerk of the said County of Hempstead should be
accompanied by the certificate of the presiding Judge certifying that the officer signing said
declaration is the Clerk of the Court over which he presided.
[written on the side] Certificate for slaves
Instructions for surtificate [sic]
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Bill of Sale between Joel Harrell, Washington County, Arkansas, and Isham
Harrell, for Wesley, a boy of 18 years, April 25, 1857.
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Transcription of Bill of Sale between Joel Harrell, Washington County, Arkansas, and Isham
Harrell, for Wesley, a boy of 18 years, April 25, 1857.
Know all men by these presents that I Joel Harrell of the county of Washington and State of
Arkansas have this day bargained, sold and delivered to Isham Harrell of the County and State
aforesaid a negro boy named Wesly about eighteen years of age for the valuable consideration
of eight hundred Dollars to me in hand paid. I said Joel Harrell do warrant the said negro Boy to
be sound in body and mind and to be a slave for life unto the said Isham Harrell and his heirs.
Joel Harrell {seal}
Signed and sealed in
The presence of us.
William Gibson
P. Gibson
This th [sic] 25 day of April 1857
[Written on side] Isham Harrell/Bill of Sale
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Notice for sale of slaves from the estate of James Lawson, deceased, Little Rock, July 22, 1857.
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Bill of sale between Samuel Lawrence and Samuel Evans of Franklin County, Arkansas, for
Milly, 22 years old, May 2, 1860
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Transcription of Bill of sale between Samuel Lawrence and Samuel Evans of Franklin County,
Arkansas, for Milly, 22 years old, May 2, 1860.
For and in consideration of the Sum of Twelve Hundred dollars in hand paid I have this day
granted bargained and Sole [sic] and do by these presents grant bargain and sell and deliver unto
Samuel Evans of the County of Franklin in the State of Arkansas a certain negro girl slave named
Milly about Twenty two years old And I hereby [?] said negro girl to be sound in boddy [sic] and
mind and a slave for life, To have and to hold unto him the said Samuel Evans and his heirs and
assigns forever free from the claim or claims of all and evry person or persons whatsoever
forever.
In witness of which I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal this 2 day of May A.D. 1860
Signed + sealed in
present [sic] of
his
Samuel Lawrence {seal}
+ mark
A.M. Doran
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Bill of sale between David Nicol, Hemstead (sic) County, Arkansas and John
W. Walker for Sarah and child, Ellis, 1861
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Transcription of Bill of sale between David Nicol, Hemstead (sic) County, Arkansas and John W.
Walker for Sarah and child, Ellis, 1861.
I David Nicol of Hemstead [sic] County Arkansas have this day bargained and sold to John W.
Walker of Pulaski State aforesaid a negro woman named Sarah and child named Ellis about
sixteen months old I warrant the said negroes to be sound in body and mind and slaves for life.
Witness my hand and {seal}
David Nicol
Witnesses
A.J. Quindley
R. F. Banks
The consideration for which the said negroes are sold is seven promissory notes drawn in favour
of said Walker by C. M. Sumers M. B. Tuley and T. L. Williams payable the first of January 1861
drawing ten percent from due till paid and one hundred dollars in cash the receit [sic] of which is
hereby acknowledged it is agreed and understood if the notes are not paid by the first of may
1861 the said Walker is to return the negro to the said Nicol he refunding the hundred dollars.
Witness my hand {seal}
David Nicol
Witnesses
A.J. Quidley
R. F. Banks
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5W’s of Analyzing a Document
TOPIC:
WHO:
What:
When:
Where:
Why Important:
Summary:
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Additional Resources
“1860 Arkansas Slave Map.” Accessed October 14, 2014 at
http://www.arkansawtraveler.com/2012/01/1860-arkansas-slave-map/
Map showing slave population distribution in Arkansas counties and other slave-holding states
in 1860.
Historic Arkansas Museum, “Slavery in Arkansas.” Accessed October 14, 2014 at
http://www.historicarkansas.org/educational/slavery.aspx
Lesson plans and teaching activities relating to the 2001 exhibit, “A Slave Ship Speaks: The Wreck
of the Henrietta Marie,” provided by the Arkansas Historical Association.
Library of Congress, “Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers Project, 19361938.” Accessed September 29, 2014 at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/.
Complete compilation of the 2,300+ digitized slave narrative transcripts from 17 states. Also
includes some photographs of interviewees. Can be searched or browsed by state, name or topic.
National Park Service, “Fugitives From Injustice: Freedom-Seeking Slaves in Arkansas,18001860.” Accessed October 14, 2010, at
http://www.nps.gov/subjects/ugrr/discover_history/upload/Fugitives-from-Injustice-FreedomSeeking-Slaves-in-Arkansas.pdf
Analysis of runaway slave advertisements with data from slave-holding states.
Old State House Museum, “Them Dark Days: The Arkansas Slave Narratives.” Accessed October
14, 2014 at http://www.oldstatehouse.com/exhibits/virtual/slave_narratives.aspx
Transcriptions of the Arkansas FWP slave narratives compiled by George Lankford. Searchable
by name and topic.
Springfield-Greene County Public Library District, “Community & Conflict: The Impact of the
Civil War in the Ozarks.” Accessed October 14, 2014 at
http://www.ozarkscivilwar.org/themes/slavery
Digital collection of primary source documents pertaining to slavery in northwest Arkansas.
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