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“…the name of her former enslaver.”
The earliest known example of “Anarcha Westcott” I am aware of—and it’s uncertain at that—is a caption of a small pamphlet about Marshall Bouldin’s “Medical Giants of Alabama” painting, commissioned for the University of Alabama, Birmingham, medical school in the early 1980s. The inclusion of a patient in the image, “Anarcha Westcott,” was made at the last minute (though it’s unclear whether at that time the name “Anarcha Westcott” was used, or whether it was applied only when the pamphlet was created, the exact date of which is unclear). The painting hung in public for more than two decades, when it became the subject of controversy. It was removed from public view a short time later.
“…numerous peer-reviewed articles…”
A pair of examples:
“Did J. Marion Sims Deliberately Addict His First Fistula Patients to Opium?” L. Lewis Wall, Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, Volume 62, Issue 3, JULY 2007, p. 336.
Berry, D. R., & In Alford, D. A. (2015). Enslaved women in America: An encyclopedia, Santa Barbara, p. 200.
“…in books of poetry…”
From Bettina Judd’s “The Researcher Discovers Anarcha, Betsey, Lucy,” from her book, Patient.
Judd, B. (2014). Patient: Poems, Black Lawrence Press, New York, 2014.
Poems by Evie Shockley (from Semiautomatic) and Xandria Phillips (from Hull) also focus on Anarcha.
“…reputable media sources.”
See, for example:
“Fight for Us: The Case for Better Accountability for Black Women in Health Care,” Simileoluwa Falako, blog of the National Association of Health Services Executives, October 2020.
“JSPG CEO Statement in Support of the Movement Against Racial Injustice in Stem and in Society,” Shalin R. Jyotishi, Journal of Science Policy & Governance, June 10, 2020.
“Black Women were Tortured to Develop Gynaecology Methods. Midwives Want Them Remembered,” Nadine White, Huffington Post, July 29, 2020.
“…the FWP recruited hundreds of interviewers…”
The FWP, total, hired as many as 6,000 writers. The slave narrative project was part of the FWP.
Stewart, C. A. (2016). Long Past Slavery: Representing Race in the Federal Writers' Project, University of North Carolina Press, Baltimore, p. 35.
“…as old as 121 years of age.”
Sarah Gudger, from North Carolina, told her incredulous interviewer that she was one-hundred-and-twenty-one years old. An investigation failed to disrupt her claim.
Another narrative from Texas claimed that Bowser Rimes lived to one-hundred-and-thirty-eight, but no effort was made to verify the age.
Library of Congress. (2018). Slave narratives: A folk history of slavery in the U.S., North Carolina Narratives, Vol. 1, p. 350.
Library of Congress. (2018). Slave narratives: A folk history of slavery in the U.S., Texas Narratives, Vol. 4, p. 9.
“…tended to follow a script.”
This is my characterization of the narratives, based on having read them all, but it is in keeping with the general trend of steering interviews toward folklore.
Stewart, C. A. (2016). Long Past Slavery: Representing Race in the Federal Writers' Project, University of North Carolina Press, Baltimore, p. 78.
“The goal of the project…”
Stewart, C. A. (2016). Long Past Slavery: Representing Race in the Federal Writers' Project, University of North Carolina Press, Baltimore, p. 24.