• Project Timeline

• Introduction to the LOC collection (PDF)

• 1941 introduction to the LOC collection (PDF)

• Introduction to the Mississippi Narratives

• Instructions to the interviewers (PDF)

• Sample narratives

• Introduction to the Index

• Acknowledgements

• Foreword by Dr. Charles Joyner

About the Comprehensive Index—Introduction to the Index

I was initially introduced to The American Slave series as a graduate student at the University of Alabama in the Fall of 1987, while studying American Slavery with Dr. Charles Joyner. The American Slave is a collection of thousands of interviews with former slaves conducted under the Works Progress Administration, primarily in the 1930s. Dr. George P. Rawick researched, collected, and edited these narratives from the individual state archives into the three series of more than forty volumes that make up The American Slave.

As I began research on two volumes labeled, The American Slave: South Carolina Narratives, I quickly noted that although many of the narrators had been slaves in South Carolina, many slaves had endured bondage in other states. The title only indicated where the former slaves were interviewed, not necessarily where they lived as slaves. It became clear that the only way to find all of the slaves who endured slavery in any state was to read through all volumes of The American Slave. An index of specific information was needed. Thus I began my task of indexing the first of the three series, unaware of the enormity of the work.

From 1987 to 1996, A Comprehensive Name Index for the American Slave became a major part of my life. During these years, I completed graduate school, experienced the illness and death of my father and mother, family surgeries, and the 1987 birth, heart surgery, and continued life of our special handicapped child who somehow continues to survive and be happy in spite of medical predictions. In 1994, I became employed at Waycross College as an Instructor of Political Science and History. Thanks to Waycross College and the University System of Georgia, I am pleased to complete the more than 2,000 hours of work that make up this Index.

In this Index, there is an entry for each slave and each location, if possible. The Index is unique in that the slaves are indexed where they lived, not where they were interviewed. As a result, many slaves will have more than one entry if they lived in different states, counties, or the same county but with different masters within the country. This project, therefore, became much more detailed and wider in scope than originally envisioned.

The American Slave is composed of three series. The first series is titled, The American Slave; the second series, The American Slave: Supplement, Series 1; and the third, The American Slave: Supplement, Series 2.

The indexed volumes are numbered in simple order. Most of the first series volumes are in two halves. The volumes are usually numbered, ending with the letters A or B, for the first or second halves respectively. For example, 14A, page 49, would indicate page 49 in the first half of the 14th volume in the original series. This applies to all volumes in the first series, except volume 16, where 16A indicates the Kansas narratives, 16K indicates the Kentucky narratives, 16M, Maryland, 16V, Virginia, and so forth. In a few volumes, there is only one part so that all entries are seciton A only. Example 17A.

In the second series, The American Slave: Supplement, Series 1, all volumes end with the letter S. Example 04S or 11S.

In the third series, The American Slave: Supplement, Series 2, all volumes end with the letter T. Example 04T or 11T.

Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy in this Index. However, it is evident that due to the advanced age of the narrators, their young age during slavery, the restrictions placed on educating slaves, memory conditions, and even bias from the interviewers that not every entry will be perfect. Often, narrators would clearly state that they lived in a specific county and state. However, a question mark (?) after any entry indicates that the entryÆs validity is only possible-to-probable, due to lack of information within the narrative to substantiate a stronger foundaiton for the entry. Many narratives were read more than once or twice in an attempt to glean evidence to verify information. Some towns or counties may have changed names, boundaries, or ceased to exist. Question-mark entries are made to give researchers the ability to seek out older or regional maps which may contain information about these towns or counties that my maps did not.

The Index has been organized by County and State, Narrator, Master, Interviewer, and Narrator Birth Year. Abbreviations are often used for doctor, judge, reverend, governor, General, Colonel, Major, etc. . . as Dr., Jud., Rev., Gov., Col., Maj., etc. . . .

In the County & State Index, the order is alphabetical by state and then by county within each state. States are listed by their two letter abbreviations (AL-Alabama, GA-Georgia, KY-Kentucky, and so forth).

In the Narrator Index, narrators are in alphabetical order. Multiple entries for a narrator were given if he or she were sold or moved during slavery. If other slaves were mentioned within a narrative (parents or relatives) and sufficient information was given, a separate narrator entry was sometimes included. This index allows for searching for a particular slave in all volumes. It can be used for academic or genealogical searches, for research, or to reconstruct a family tree. Narrators with multiple entries often indicate place of birth, migration during slavery, and location upon individual emancipation.

The length of each narrative varies from one page to over twenty pages. The NP column was added to indicate the number of pages in each narrative. In all other columns a blank entry indicates no data available or in numerical entries, a zero indicates no numerical data.

In the Master Index, masters are in alphabetical order. If the master's name for both the slave's mother and father were given, the narrator entry was normally made under the mother's master's name since the owner of the mother and child were often the same. However, if the narrator made the distinction of being owned by the father's master or another master, that is the entry used. For those non-slave narrators born after the Civil War, I have entered the master and location of any former slaves the narrator talks about for the data information, if possible. Some narrators were also kept as slaves as late as 1870 and beyond, even though slavery had officially ended. They were often isolated, uninformed, or threatened with beatings or death to remain in bondage. Therefore, I made the required entries for each narrator, until he noted that he had ceased being a slave, regardless of whether he decided to leave the former master or not. The Master Index also allows for tracking masters or slaves before, during, and after the Civil War. Multiple narrations of the same master by different slaves may allow a more detailed examination of some masters. Genealogical studies will also benefit descendants.

In the Interviewer Index, interviewers are in alphabetical, volume, and page order. This index is probably of most value to scholarly researchers. It allows easy access to individual interviewers' volume of work, as well as permitting easy tracing of interview routes.

In the Narrator Birth Year Index, the age at the time of the interview and the birth year are noted if given at the time of the interview. If only one were given, the missing data was estimated by using a base date of 1937 or 1938 as the probable interview year, depending on the volume. Since there were interviews in other years, if a year was given, it was used as the base year for that entry's calculation. However, especially since the narrator often gave his or her age, birth year, or approximate age relative to the beginning or end of the Civil War, using 1937 and 1938 as base years, I estimate that most age and birth years should be within a -1 or +1 year accuracy. If data was missing or insufficient to merit calculation, the entries were left blank.

I hope that the completion of this Index is not an end, but a beginning. The wealth of knowledge and information is within the volumes of The American Slave series. This Index is written to be used individually on its own merits, or as a key to help unlock the secrets of the narratives. If even one historical researcher benefits, or one citizen finds a piece of the puzzle to his or her family tree, my work will be fulfilled. Therefore, I invite you to use this Index and explore a bit of our history through its pages as well as those of the narratives.

Although others have assisted in researching a few of the last volumes, I have quality-checked their work, and, therefore, bear any responsibility for errors, perceived or real, that occur in this work. Due to the nature of the narrative information, I believe that the Index is as accurate as possible; however, I realize that others may interpret some of its parts differently than I may. That is part of historical interpretation, and only through the use of the Index, may you find the answers you seek.

Howard Potts
Waycross College