Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938

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Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-38
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More than 2,300 firsthand accounts of slavery and 500 black and white photographs of former slaves are presented on this website. These materials were collected in the 1930s by the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Project Administration, a Roosevelt Administration New Deal bureau.

Each slave narrative transcript is accompanied by notes including the name of the narrator, place and date of the interview, interviewer's name, length of transcript, and catalog information. Each photograph has similar notes. Browse photographs and narratives by keyword, subject, and narrator. An introductory essay discusses the significance of slave narratives and a selection of excerpts from eight narratives along with photographs of the former slaves. This is a rich resource for exploring slavery, historical memory, and New Deal efforts to document America's past.

Teaching African American History with WPA Slave Narratives

Description

This workshop will examine the questions "What do recollections of formerly enslaved people, gathered by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s, tell us about slavery in America?," "What interpretative challenges do the WPA slave narratives pose?," and "How can the WPA slave narratives be used with students?"

The Center's online resource workshops give high school teachers of U.S. history and American literature a deeper understanding of their subject matter. They introduce teachers to fresh texts and critical perspectives and help teachers integrate them into their lessons. Led by distinguished scholars and running 60 to 90 minutes, they are conducted through lecture and discussion using conferencing software. A resource workshop identifies central themes within a topic and explores ways to teach them through the close analysis of primary texts, including works of art, and the use of discussion questions. Texts are drawn from anthologies in the Center's Toolbox Library. To participate, all that is needed is a computer with an internet connection, a speaker, and a microphone.

Contact name
Schramm, Richard R.
Registration Deadline
Sponsoring Organization
National Humanities Center
Target Audience
High school
Start Date
Cost
$35
Course Credit
The National Humanities Center will supply documentation for certificate renewal credit.
Duration
One and a half hours
Jump at the Sun: Zora Neale Hurston and Her Eatonville Roots Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 02/13/2008 - 15:40
Description

This workshop "will bring together a distinguished team of humanities scholars who will provide an interdisciplinary exploration of Hurston’s life and work. They include a literary scholar who has written extensively on Hurston; a folklorist who wrote the application that placed Eatonville on the Historic Register; a Hurston biographer; the director of the American Folk Life Center at the Library of Congress, where most of Hurston’s folklife collection resides; and a colleague of Hurston’s in the WPA. Participants will examine Hurston’s accomplishments within the context of the historical and cultural development of the Eatonville community. They will grapple with compelling questions about how this unique black enclave fueled Hurston’s appreciation of folk culture, inspired her literary works, created her racial identity, and formed her sometimes controversial views on race." It will include readings, lectures, discussions, visits to historic sites, and curriculum development projects. Specific topics will include "Hurston’s Eatonville Roots," "Inspiration for Hurston’s Racial and Gender Identity, Folkloric Research, and Literary Work," "The Harlem Renaissance and the WPA," "Humor and Religion," and "Fort Pierce: From Halcyon Days to Obscurity."

Contact name
Schoenacher, Ann Simas
Contact email
Registration Deadline
Sponsoring Organization
National Endowment for the Humanities
Phone number
1 727-873-2010
Target Audience
Kindergarten through Twelfth Grade
Start Date
Contact Title
Project Director
Duration
One week
End Date
Jump at the Sun: Zora Neale Hurston and Her Eatonville Roots Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 02/13/2008 - 15:40
Description

This workshop "will bring together a distinguished team of humanities scholars who will provide an interdisciplinary exploration of Hurston’s life and work. They include a literary scholar who has written extensively on Hurston; a folklorist who wrote the application that placed Eatonville on the Historic Register; a Hurston biographer; the director of the American Folk Life Center at the Library of Congress, where most of Hurston’s folklife collection resides; and a colleague of Hurston’s in the WPA. Participants will examine Hurston’s accomplishments within the context of the historical and cultural development of the Eatonville community. They will grapple with compelling questions about how this unique black enclave fueled Hurston’s appreciation of folk culture, inspired her literary works, created her racial identity, and formed her sometimes controversial views on race." It will include readings, lectures, discussions, visits to historic sites, and curriculum development projects. Specific topics will include "Hurston’s Eatonville Roots," "Inspiration for Hurston’s Racial and Gender Identity, Folkloric Research, and Literary Work," "The Harlem Renaissance and the WPA," "Humor and Religion," and "Fort Pierce: From Halcyon Days to Obscurity."

Contact name
Schoenacher, Ann Simas
Contact email
Registration Deadline
Sponsoring Organization
National Endowment for the Humanities
Phone number
1 727-873-2010
Target Audience
Kindergarten through Twelfth Grade
Start Date
Contact Title
Project Director
Duration
One week
End Date
Jump at the Sun: Zora Neale Hurston and Her Eatonville Roots Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 02/13/2008 - 15:40
Description

This workshop "will bring together a distinguished team of humanities scholars who will provide an interdisciplinary exploration of Hurston’s life and work. They include a literary scholar who has written extensively on Hurston; a folklorist who wrote the application that placed Eatonville on the Historic Register; a Hurston biographer; the director of the American Folk Life Center at the Library of Congress, where most of Hurston’s folklife collection resides; and a colleague of Hurston’s in the WPA. Participants will examine Hurston’s accomplishments within the context of the historical and cultural development of the Eatonville community. They will grapple with compelling questions about how this unique black enclave fueled Hurston’s appreciation of folk culture, inspired her literary works, created her racial identity, and formed her sometimes controversial views on race." It will include readings, lectures, discussions, visits to historic sites, and curriculum development projects. Specific topics will include "Hurston’s Eatonville Roots," "Inspiration for Hurston’s Racial and Gender Identity, Folkloric Research, and Literary Work," "The Harlem Renaissance and the WPA," "Humor and Religion," and "Fort Pierce: From Halcyon Days to Obscurity."

Contact name
Schoenacher, Ann Simas
Contact email
Registration Deadline
Sponsoring Organization
National Endowment for the Humanities
Phone number
1 727-873-2010
Target Audience
Kindergarten through Twelfth Grade
Start Date
Contact Title
Project Director
Duration
One week
End Date

USC Archival Research Center

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These varied collections document the history of Los Angeles and southern California. "Digital Archives" offer more than 126,000 photographs, maps, manuscripts, texts, and sound recordings in addition to exhibits. Nearly 1,200 images of artifacts from early Chinese American settlements in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara are available, as is the entire run of El Clamor Publico, the city's main Spanish-language newspaper from the 1850s. Photographs document Japanese American relocation during World War II and photographs, documents, and oral history audio files record Korean-American history. The archive also includes Works Projects Administration Land Use survey maps and Auto Club materials. A related exhibit, "Los Angeles: Past, Present, and Future", offers collections on additional topics, including discovery and settlement, California missions, electric power, "murders, crimes, and scandals," city neighborhoods, cemeteries, Disneyland, African American gangs, and the Red Car lines.

Posters from the WPA, 1936-1943

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This colorful exhibit showcases more than 900 Work Projects Administration (WPA) posters produced from 1936 to 1943 as part of the New Deal program to support the arts during the Depression.

Silkscreen, lithograph, and woodcut posters promoted New Deal and local programs dealing with public health, safety, education, travel and tourism, and community activities, as well as publicizing art exhibits, theater, and musical performances in 17 states and the District of Columbia.

Each poster is accompanied by a brief description. Three special presentations feature more than 40 posters, including highlights of the collection's breadth and depth as well as style and content; an audio recording with a silkscreen artist; and a Federal Art Project calendar. A bibliography of 10 related scholarly works also is included.