In this interview from 1940, Mr. George Johnson of Mound Bayou, Mississippi, shares memories of slavery times, including his relationship with Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy. The interviewers are Charles Johnson, Lewis Jones, John Work, Elizabeth and Alan Lomax.

In this interview from 1935, Mr. Wallace Quarterman of St. Simons Island, Georgia, recalls the last days of slavery for Zora Neale Hurston, Alan Lomax, and Mary Elizabeth Barnicle of the Library of Congress.

Fountain Hughes reflects on his childhood experiences before and after the end of slavery in Charlottesville, VA. Among other events, Mr. Hughes recollects slave auctions and the hardships endured by freed slaves after the end of the Civil War.