Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves, Volume V, Indiana Narratives

In Short

This volume compiles interviews conducted in the 1930s with formerly enslaved men and women living in Indiana. Through these firsthand accounts, elderly narrators recall their childhoods in Southern states, the harrowing cruelties of slave auctions and physical abuse, the sudden shifts brought by the Civil War, and the complex process of building free lives in the North. Preserved by the Works Progress Administration, these oral histories stand as a vital record of African American endurance, detailing how individuals maintained family bonds, sought literacy under threat of punishment, and carved out community identities despite systemic oppression.

The Story

The narrative arc of this collection traces the long, perilous journey of African Americans from childhoods spent under the lash in Southern states like Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and the Carolinas to their eventual settlement in Indiana. The trajectory begins in the deep trauma of early life under slavery. Informants recall a world defined by absolute white authority, where children were subjected to hard labor as early as age six and forbidden under penalty of law to learn to read or write. Early memories are dominated by the terror of slave auctions, where families were routinely ripped apart—mothers dragged away from crying infants and siblings sold to distant plantations, never to see or hear from one another again. Physical violence frames these early chapters: narrators describe slaves being staked to the ground and beaten until bloody, or trapped by night-riding "Paddy-Rollers."

As the Civil War arrives, the trajectory shifts toward a chaotic transition to freedom. The war disrupts established plantation routines, bringing Northern armies, rumors of emancipation, and sudden flight. Some enslaved men enlist in the Union forces, earning freedom not only for themselves but for their immediate families, while others are forced into manual labor for Southern troops. Free papers are secured, and narrators recall the immense relief—and deep disorientation—of the moment emancipation was proclaimed.

The final phase of the arc follows these survivors as they migrate northward across the Ohio River into Indiana towns like Indianapolis, Evansville, and Elkhart. The promised land of the North, however, presents its own difficult landscape. Former slaves face Northern prejudice, economic vulnerability, and the challenge of navigating free labor markets without formal schooling. They establish homes, work as riverboat hands, flatboat crews, and factory laborers, and raise children who will never know bondage. In their eighties, nineties, and beyond, living in modest rooms or homes surrounded by descendants, they look back on their lives. Supported by small pensions or church communities, they offer their final reflections—balancing painful memories of a vanished world with a quiet pride in their survival and faith.

How It Unfolds

The trauma of the block The opening movements detail the violent disruption of childhood through the slave trade. Narrators recall watching their mothers chained and driven over distant hills, or being subjected to physical examinations by prospective buyers who inspected their teeth and limbs like livestock.

Survival under the whip Life on the plantations is characterized by severe labor, inadequate food, and constant enforcement through violence. Former slaves describe barefoot children working long hours in winter, cabin quarters exposed to the elements, and horrific punishments administered by masters and overseers.

Secrets and resistance Despite strict bans on literacy and assembly, enslaved people find subtle ways to assert their humanity. They sneak opportunities to learn the alphabet, hold clandestine gatherings, construct clever traps to defend against night-riders, and draw comfort from spiritual songs poured out in the fields.

The dawn of freedom The Civil War shatters the slave system, prompting union enlistments, escapes across river boundaries, and the eventual reading of the Emancipation Proclamation. Narrators remember receiving their first suits of clothes, setting out on foot to locate lost relatives, and taking their first steps as free citizens.

Rebuilding in the North Migrating to Indiana, the newly freed adjust to wage labor and northern attitudes, finding that freedom requires immense self-reliance. They build families, purchase property when possible, secure rare educational opportunities for their children, and establish lasting roots in local church congregations.

The People

• Dr. George Washington Buckner wants to understand his own history and the broader psychology of his race. Separated from his mother as a small child after his master died, he froze to his bed during a harsh winter, losing his toes as a result. Indentured to a flatboat captain and later a lifelong riverboat worker, he eventually becomes a respected city doctor and public figure, harboring deep memories of the river and the cruelties of Congo Square.
• Joseph William Carter strives to live a life governed by decency, virtue, and honest labor. Carrying physical traits from his Indian heritage, he endures severe injuries in his youth, including a broken back, but retains his wit and gentle humor into his hundreds. Devoted to his seven daughters and proud of their independence, he remains deeply appreciative of his family's freedom and the love of his country.
• Rev. H.H. Edmunds seeks to preach the Gospel and preserve the "old time religion" of his youth. Born in Virginia and forced into hard labor at age six after being separated from his family by a widowed mistress, he witnesses severe beatings before running away. He spends his later years in Elkhart as a minister, reflecting deeply on how slavery used fear and superstition to keep people in subjugation.
• Mrs. Rosaline Rogers endures extreme deprivation from a young age, sold at age eleven for $900 and passed between harsh masters in Tennessee. She survives crowding in drafty log cabins, bloody feet from plowing barefoot on frozen ground, and rigid segregation even in places of worship, remaining a resilient witness to the brutal realities of southern plantation life well past her hundredth birthday.

In Its Own Voice

"Our ignorance was the greatest hold the South had on us."

Rev. H.H. Edmunds reflects on how slaveholders strictly enforced laws against teaching enslaved people to read or write in order to prevent escape and preserve control.

"Old Missus told me I would never be strong enough to do hard work, and she had the neighborhood shoemaker fashion shoes too short for any body's feet but mine."

Dr. George Washington Buckner recalls the aftermath of a childhood winter when he froze to his bed, losing his toes, which forced his mistress to provide custom footwear.

"When I was a young man, women wore more clothes in bed than they now wear on the street."

Centenarian Joseph William Carter offers a dry, humorous observation on modern fashion trends compared to the strict moral standards of his youth.

What It's Really About

At its core, this collection is an examination of human resilience against an institution designed to erase individual identity and family ties. The text probes the profound psychological mechanisms of slavery, illustrating how total denial of education and enforced isolation were used as tools of subjugation. It explores the sanctity of memory and lineage, documenting the heartbreaking, permanent fractures caused by the slave trade, which left generations unable to trace their ancestral heritage. Yet, underneath the records of trauma, the narrative highlights the quiet agency of the enslaved—their ability to preserve moral integrity, form clandestine support systems, and retain their humanity. Ultimately, the book argues that true freedom lies not merely in legal emancipation, but in the power to claim one's name, labor, and story.

Why Read It Today

This volume offers an unvarnished, deeply personal portal into one of the darkest chapters of American history. Readers who value oral histories, unmediated human voices, and folk biography will find this collection profoundly moving. Reading these pages feels like sitting on a quiet porch beside an elder who has lived through the unthinkable; the tone is rarely bitter, but rather candid, dignified, and rich with vivid detail.

The book does present genuine reading challenges. Because these interviews were transcribed by Federal Writers' Project workers in the late 1930s, the text contains phonetic renderings of regional dialects, period terminology, and racial attitudes of the era that can feel jarring or uncomfortable to modern sensibilities. Furthermore, the fragmented structure of short, independent interviews means there is no single continuous narrative thread to follow. Yet, these structural hurdles are precisely what preserve the authenticity of the project. What remains long after reading is the astonishing strength of the narrators—individuals who survived the horrors of bondage, rebuilt their lives from nothing, and left behind their voices so that the truth of their experience would never be forgotten.