Episode Summary:

As detailed in episodes 2 and 3, Roscoe Lewis’ unit on the Federal Writers’ Project conducted interviews with the survivors of slavery in Virginia. One member of the unit, a former teacher named Susie RC Byrd, interviewed dozens of formerly enslaved persons in Petersburg in a series of weekly meetings. Lewis and Byrd also arranged to borrow equipment from the University of Virginia to record songs performed at one of these meetings.  

We are sharing two of those recordings with you today, “Stomp Down” and “Gonna Shout.”  Please note, the audio quality is poor, but what is amazing is that these are the actual voices of those who survived slavery.  It’s easy to think that slavery was something that happened a long time ago, but hearing these voices, you’ll feel that slavery was not in the distant past.  

The soloist in “Stomp Down” is Sister Charlotte Taylor and the soloist in “Gonna Shout” is Reverend Ishrael Massie.  

Links and Resources: 

"Voices Remembering Slavery: Freed People Tell Their Stories" at the Library of Congress

"Ex-Slave Narratives" at the Library of Virginia

American Folklife Center

Credits:

Host: Chris Haley

Director: Andrea Kalin

Producers: Andrea Kalin, David A. Taylor, James Mirabello

Editors: James Mirabello and Ethan Oser

Writer: James Mirabello

Featuring music and archival material from:

Pond5

American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress 

For additional content, visit peoplesrecorder.info or follow us on social media: @peoplesrecorder

Produced with support from:

National Endowment for the Humanities

Virginia Humanities

Florida Humanities

Wisconsin Humanities

California Humanities

Humanities Nebraska

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