Customer Reviews

The WPA Oklahoma Slave Narratives

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From 19337-39 the Works Project Administration, through the Oklahoma Federal Writers Project, interviewed former slaves living in Oklahoma. For various reasons the slave narratives were never published and languished in boxes in Oklahoma and Washington, DC.
In 1990 they came to the attention of the editors of this volume annd after extensive work were published in 1996. The book contains some one hundred thirty narratives and is a rich history of not only Oklahoma but other southern states as well as the slavery practices of the Five Civilized Tribes.
It is an indispensable resource for historians as well as readers interested in slavery, Oklahoma's Five Tribes, African Americans, and the history of race relations in Oklahoma and the Southwest. Detailed editorial notes and a superb index are included.

This collated and edited collection focusing on Oklahoma is part of the much larger (massive) collection of works produced by the WPA (Works Project Administration) which was part of Roosevelt's Federal Writers Project. Spanning the country to interview ex-enslaved African Americans before that entire generation died, the combined volumes speak volumes about the horrid conditions--provided by first-hand, eye-witnesses. This current volume focuses, as the title notes, on one such state--Oklahoma. For the complete works, the Library of Congress online is the best source.

Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction , Spiritual Friends, and Soul Physicians: A Theology of Soul Care and Spiritual Direction.