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

These recordings bring the everyday lives of Texas’s formerly enslaved people into sharp focus, preserving their own words as they recall childhood, work, and family under the Cavin plantation. Listeners will hear candid reflections on labor, the rhythms of field work, and the complex relationships between owners, overseers, and the enslaved community, all filtered through the personal lenses of men and women like Will Adams, Sarah Ashley, and many others.

Compiled by the Federal Writers’ Project in the late 1930s, the volume pairs each interview with photographs that help visualize the homes, fields, and faces described. The narratives reveal how people navigated hardship, found moments of dignity, and maintained cultural ties even as the institution of slavery loomed over them. This collection offers a rare, intimate glimpse into a pivotal era of American history, told directly by those who lived it.