| Contemporary Narratives
Lalita Tademy
Best-selling author Lalita Tademy shares her journey toward Cane River, the novel that chronicles the lives of several generations of women in her family, going back to slavery.
Johnnie M. Maberry Gilbert
Jackson, Mississippi, artist Johnnie M. Maberry Gilbert shares her insights on drawing from literary and historical text for her inspiration in painting. Please see her collection of slavery-related paintings online exclusively on this site in the Image Gallery.
Buying and Selling of Slaves
Jordan Smith
Mr. Smith tells of the process of picking slaves for sale, particularly the women. He also talks about the pairing slaves for breeding.
Jenny Proctor
Jenny Proctor talks about how the slaves were prepared for auction and the heartbreaking inevitability of family members being sold to separate masters.
Harriet Jacobs
Harriet Jacobs escaped slavery to publish her autobiography in 1861. In this excerpt, she tells of witnessing an auction of a mother and her seven children.
Ella Belle Ramsey
In this excerpt, Ms. Ramsey tells of being forever separated from her family when she is bought and taken away from her family's plantation.
Silvia King
Silvia King explains in graphic detail the humiliating process of being sold at auction right off the boat in New Orleans.
Marie Perkins
In this letter written to her husband, Marie Perkins expresses her fear of being sold away from her family.
Working the Plantation
Lavina Bell
Lavina Bell was enslaved in Kentucky, and was the mother of four children, at least two of whom were taken from her to be sold. Her husband was hired out by his owners to cook at a hotel, but all his wages went to his owners. She was interviewed in 1863.
Mary Kincheon Edwards
In several excerpts, Mary Kincheon Edwards discusses the various aspects of life on the plantation.
Katie Darling
Katie Darling speaks of her role as wet nurse and house slave. She also talks about having to milk the cows every day.
Susan Merrick
Susan Merrick tells of the beginning of the long day in the fields.
Susan Forrest
Listen to Susan Forrest explain the layout of the plantation living quarters.
Emancipation
Lewis Thomas
Lewis Thomas tells about the day he learned he was free, and how he fought for that freedom.
Tom Robinson
One man recollects the first sweet moments when he learned he was free.
Lunsford Lane
Lunsford Lane was enslaved on a tobacco plantation near Raleigh, North Carolina, until he earned enough money to buy his freedom and that of his wife and seven children. This narrative dates from 1842.
Charity McAllister
Charity McAllister was a slave in Harnett County, North Carolina. She was 18 years old when the Union forces arrived to free her. She was interviewed at the age of 127.
| Biographies
Sally Hemings
The enslaved woman Sally Hemings was the half-sister of Martha Wayles, the white woman who married Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States. Read about her life and her relationship with President Thomas Jefferson.
Lily Ann Granderson
Born into slavery, Lily Ann Granderson was taught to read by her master's children. She, in turn, opened a secret school for slaves, teaching them to read and write. Learn about this Natchez slave who taught hundreds of slaves and freedpeople during and after the Civil War.
Norbert Rillieux
An African-American inventor, Norbert Rillieux achieved international renown as the inventor of the multiple-effect evaporator that revolutionized the sugar industry.
From Obscurity to Fame
There were many slaves in Colonial America who not only won their freedom but who gained fame as well. Here are brief vignettes of four of these people.
Solomon Northrup
Born a free black in New York, Solomon Northrup was captured and sold as a slave. He survived as a slave for twelve years before regaining his freedom.
Ibrahima Abd ar-Rahman Jallo
Ibrahima Abd ar-Rahman Jallo was a Muslim prince who was also a slave in the old Natchez district of Mississippi, and the most famous African American in the late 1820s.
William Still
From Slave to Conductor. One of the most effective organizers of a formal segment of the Underground Railroad was a free African American named William Still.
Richard Allen
Richard Allen's life is representative of the challenges faced by many African Americans living during Colonial times and the early years of the American republic.
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