Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves, Volume XIV, South Carolina Narratives, Part 1

This volume gathers firsthand testimonies from dozens of former enslaved people who lived and worked in South Carolina before emancipation. Recorded by the Federal Writers’ Project in the late 1930s, the interviews preserve the speakers’ own dialects, humor, and the cadence of their storytelling, offering a rare folk history of the state’s plantation culture. The narratives range from vivid recollections of daily labor and family rituals to haunting folk tales whispered around night fires, capturing everything from the rhythm of field work to the superstitions that steadied them through hardship.

Presented without editorial gloss, the collection invites listeners to sit beside the speakers as they recall moments of resilience, fear, and community. It provides a window into the lived experience of slavery that textbooks often overlook, making the past palpable and personal. Hearing these accounts brings history to life through the very words of those who survived it.