Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves, Volume XIV, South Carolina Narratives, Part 4

A rare glimpse into the lives of those who endured slavery in South Carolina, this collection gathers firsthand accounts recorded by the Federal Writers’ Project in the late 1930s. Preserving the speakers’ original dialect, the narratives retain the rhythm, spelling, and cadence of their everyday speech, offering an unfiltered window into a world long past. The volume opens with a remarkable interview with Mary Raines, a non‑agenarian who remembers the plantation era with vivid detail. Her story, along with dozens of others, sets the tone for a chorus of voices that together form a living history.

Listeners will hear the texture of daily labor, family ties, and the complex relationships between enslaved people and those who held power over them. From cotton fields to kitchen hearths, the testimonies reveal how work, food, and community shaped survival and identity. These oral histories provide both personal intimacy and broader cultural insight, making the past feel immediate and human.