Outstanding slave narrative.

[Vuhginyuh]

http://core.ecu.edu/hist/cecelskid/

The uniformity of the in-text notations is a bit thin. The narrative on it's own is good stuff.

I don't know if this was on the old forum but it is here now.

[cwbelle]

Re: Outstanding slave narrative.

This is the second really excellent/eye-opening account I've read about slavery written by someone who experienced it--thank you for posting the link!

[DonSmithnotTMD]

Re: Outstanding slave narrative.

Does anyone find it spurious that it comes from Massachusetts and there is no documentation?

[Hank Trent]

Re: Outstanding slave narrative.

Does anyone find it spurious that it comes from Massachusetts and there is no documentation?

What sounds suspicious to you? The narrative itself paints a pretty typical picture of slave life, similar to what's found in other primary sources, and the notes that have been added about the people and places corroborate the major facts with independent documentation. The book is also scanned into the Documenting the American South collection, so it's not just being presented online by this school class, and full bibliographic data is presented including an image of the cover. It was published in Massachusetts probably because the author lived in Massachusetts, which is independently shown by census and directory data.

What further documentation are you looking for? It just doesn't send up any warning flags for me. I'd trust it the same way I'd trust any person's reminiscences published in their old age, like the many veterans' stories, the pioneer generation's descriptions of settling the land, etc., with the usual allowances for embellishment, bias, slips of memory, editing, etc.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Vuhginyuh]

Re: Outstanding slave narrative.

This is an honest and valuble document, North or South.

These were recollections of a functionally illiterate old man, Alan Parker. He was well spoken but had with little knowledge of the mechanics of the written word. It simply being transcribed in the 1890's makes it unusual to start with. It could be edited for clarity and impact. However, I see no reason to discount the work.

One way to verify the credibility of the text is that a few simple comments can be confirmed with the images electronically added to the text. The descriptions of the dwellings and surroundings are very accurate. The buildings stand almost unchanged today. Mundane comments, such as those about hinges or boards are now photographed and lend support.

I am going to play the devil here and ask if the work would be questioned if it was from a Confederate? I have posted other excerpts from peroid manuscripts and narratives with weaker provenances. None had a single reference and they were never doubted publicly. Why this one?

This was printed at a time of horrible racial unrest and violence against ex-slaves and their families in the South and Border States. Again, the mere fact that the book ever made it to press in the 1890's is no small wonder.
I live near a town where black business were burned and bystanders were shot dead in the streets. Many were ex-Colored Troops. And all of that is well documented too.

Just read Alan Parkers dedication. It stands alone.

TO
My Mother

WHOSE EYES WERE NOT PERMITTED TO SEE THE
EMANCIPATION OF HER RACE, BUT WHO DIED A
SLAVE AND NOW LIES BURIED IN AN UNMARKED
AND NEGLECTED GRAVE ON THE OLD PLANTATION
IN THE SUNNY SOUTH, NEAR
WHERE SHE SPENT HER LIFE IN
UNPAID TOIL FOR OTHERS,
THIS LITTLE BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED.

[Emmanuel Dabney]

Re: Outstanding slave narrative.

Very little of this narrative surprises me. The same stories have been repeated over and over by more than one former slave. I believe it to be another good narrative to add to the masses of others. It's narratives like this that allow us to take a full, understanding of slavery in North America, primarily during our period of interest.

[Yulie]

Re: Outstanding slave narrative.

Understanding slave narratives...

The Allen Parker project is an excellent example of how slave narratives are being validated, authenticated and clarified. It is a scholarly work that reflects the academic trend towards shifting through some of the inaccurate and embellished autobiographies focusing on enslavement. A study of the website indicates that Parker's accounts have been dissected and supplemented with the validation thus uncovered. The treatment of this type of nineteenth century autobiography might seem unjustly unfair, but is it is necessary because of the following issues.

Slave narratives -- autobiographical accounts by people who were subjected to the institution of enslavement -- prior to the Civil War might have been propaganda factional works to assist the abolitionist cause -- Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin etc although now recognized as a fictional account is based loosely on the life of Josiah Henson. Also, locations and people identities where sometimes changed to protect certain individuals -- as was the case of Harriet Jacobs aka Linda Brent. Sometimes the authors themselves changed their names -- as was the case of Frederick Augustus Bailey aka Frederick Douglass. Although accounts might be factual, fiction was sometimes added by editors to dramatize the horrors of enslavement -- as was the case of Isabella aka Sojourner Truth. Furthermore, post-Civil War accounts -- especially the WPA "slave narrative" project of the 1930s are very problematic as it sometimes confused or failed to distinguish autobiographies from biographic recollections. For example, sometimes the interviewer attributed the accounts as first hand experiences when they were actually descendants passing down the oral history of an ancestor who was enslaved. Scholastically revisiting the slave narratives helps resolve these issues and has uncovered wonderful autobiographies like Allen Parker. Prior to the East North Carolina University's project, his account was known within the Massachusetts oral black history venue, and in the AME, AME Zion and CME church histories. I think that it's wonderful that the students have proved his account and made it available to the general public as it adds to the rich and unique fabric of American life in the nineteenth century.

By revisiting the nineteenth century slave narratives certain corrupted issues have been corrected: Incident's of the life of a Slave Girl is now correctly attributed as Harriet Brent Jacobs personal account instead of being the factional work of Lydia M. Child; and it is now known that Sojourner Truth never gave the "Ar'n't I a woman" speech in the form alleged in the June 21, 1851 issue of The Anti-Slavery Bugle, did not bear her breast to an audience, and was not a close personal friend of Abraham Lincoln. The history behind the perpetuation of these historical inaccuracies is an interesting subject...

This is just some food for thought to digest when you approach other slave narratives. Hope it was helpful...

[hireddutchcutthroat]

Re: Outstanding slave narrative.

I am going to play the devil here and ask if the work would be questioned if it was from a Confederate? I have posted other excerpts from peroid manuscripts and narratives with weaker provenances. None had a single reference and they were never doubted publicly. Why this one?

This was printed at a time of horrible racial unrest and violence against ex-slaves and their families in the South and Border States. Again, the mere fact that the book ever made it to press in the 1890's is no small wonder.
I live near a town where black business were burned and bystanders were shot dead in the streets. Many were ex-Colored Troops. And all of that is well documented too.

Here here Garrison! Excellent post.