Page 33
“…what money looked like.”
Scene drawn from narrative of Janie Scott.
Library of Congress. (2018). Slave narratives: A folk history of slavery in the U.S., Alabama Narratives, Vol. 1, pp. 327-28.
Janie Scott
“…her father worked Sundays…”
Narrative of Fannie Alexander.
Library of Congress. (2018). Slave narratives: A folk history of slavery in the U.S., Arkansas Narratives, Vol. 1, p. 31.
Fannie Alexander
“…church clothes and whiskey…”
Narratives of Charles Grandy and Thomas Cole.
Library of Congress. (2018). Slave narratives: A folk history of slavery in the U.S., Virginia Narratives, Vol. 1, p. 321.
Rawick, G. P., Hillegas, J., & Lawrence, K. (1978). The American slave: A composite autobiography: supplement, series 2. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Pub, Vol. 3, Texas, p. 791.
“…charcoal to sell…”
Narratives of Claiborne Moss, Lucinda Vann, and Cora Carroll Gillam.
Library of Congress. (2018). Slave narratives: A folk history of slavery in the U.S., Arkansas Narratives, Vol. 5, p. 160.
Rawick, G. P., Hillegas, J., & Lawrence, K. (1978). The American slave: A composite autobiography: supplement, series 1. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Pub, Vol. 12, Oklahoma, p. 346; supplement, series 2, Vol. 1, Multiple States, p. 84.
“…a piece of money…”
Narrative of Cato Carter.
Rawick, G. P., Hillegas, J., & Lawrence, K. (1978). The American slave: A composite autobiography: supplement, series 2. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Pub, Vol. 3, Texas, p. 641.
Cato Carter
“…snakes and terrapins…”
Narrative of Richard Slaughter.
Perdue, C. L., Barden, T. E., & Phillips, R. K. (1997). Weevils in the wheat: Interviews with Virginia ex-slaves. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, p. 172.
Richard Slaughter
“One man stole…”
I’m combining a few different stories here, from the narratives of William I. Johnson, Jr., Omelia Thomas, and Lucindy Lawrence Jurdon. There are many examples of the claim that slaves would lose a finger if they tried to learn to read.
Perdue, C. L., Barden, T. E., & Phillips, R. K. (1997). Weevils in the wheat: Interviews with Virginia ex-slaves. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, p. 167.
Library of Congress. (2018). Slave narratives: A folk history of slavery in the U.S., Arkansas Narratives, Vol. 6, p. 301; Alabama Narratives, Vol. 1, p. 243.
“…later census records…”
As appears on this page in the book, he 1870 U.S. Census records for Alabama include entries for Anarchy Cook, Anachy Shines, and Anica Wyly..
“…she never learned to cook…”
Later records in Virginia—a letter from the Maury family, described later in the book—establish that Anarcha did not know how to cook, or at least claimed to know “nothing about it.”
“…the biscuits and the coffee…”
Narratives of Jane Osbrook and Sam Polite.
Library of Congress. (2018). Slave narratives: A folk history of slavery in the U.S., Arkansas Narratives, Vol. 5, p. 232; South Carolina Narratives, Vol. 3, p. 272.
“…Anarcha stole one…”
The story of the stolen waffle draws on the narrative of Julia Brown.
Library of Congress. (2018). Slave narratives: A folk history of slavery in the U.S., Georgia Narratives, Vol. 1, pp. 146-47.
