The Voice of the Enslaved

 "My Dear Husband: A Texas Slave's Love Letter, 1862" by Theophilus Perry

Memories of Slavery Days in Kentucky by James T Harrison

Recollections of Slavery Times by Allen Parker

The Story of My Life and Work by Booker T. Washington

The story of the Civil War cannot be told outside the context of slavery. Thus, many of the sources in this collection are connected to slavery in some way, shape, or form, and while some of them deal with the history of slavery, most of them narrate the experience of the enslaver or enslaved. However, the problem is that many of the sources that address the enslaved experience were written by white people and not the enslaved or formerly enslaved themselves.

To address this issue, we have highlighted a few of the amazing sources within our collection that were authored by the enslaved or formerly enslaved to give them a voice and have them tell their own story, the way they experienced it. These sources are also a testament of remembrance or as Allen Parker wrote in the dedication of his book (featured here): "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."   

“My Dear Husband": A Texas Slave's Love Letter, 1862” is a letter written by an enslaved woman to her husband who was taken by his master to be a camp servant during the war. 

The Story of My Life and Work by Booker T Washington and Recollections of Slavery Times by Allen Parker both deal with their respective recollections of enslavement.

"Memories of Slavery Days in Kentucky" is a compilation of enslaved voices that deal with the experience of slavery.