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

This volume gathers the voices of Maryland’s former enslaved people, recorded in the late 1930s by the Federal Writers’ Project. The interviews are presented exactly as the interviewers captured them, preserving the rhythms, dialects, and personal details that bring each story to life. Listeners will hear accounts of daily labor, family ties, and the moment the Civil War reached the farms and homes where these individuals lived.

Among the narratives is the vivid recollection of an elderly woman known as Aunt Lucy, who describes her childhood tasks, the arrival of Union soldiers, and the unsettling uncertainty of a world in transition. Her memories, along with those of dozens of other informants, reveal a mosaic of experiences—work in fields, domestic service, and the hopes and fears that shaped their lives. The collection offers a rare, intimate glimpse into a chapter of American history told directly by those who lived it.