Remembering Slavery: African Americans Talk About Their Personal Experiences of Slavery and Emancipation

Description

In 1998, The New Press published Remembering Slavery, a book-and-tape set that offered a startling first-person history of slavery. Using excerpts from the thousands of interviews conducted with ex-slaves in the 1930s by researchers working with the Federal Writers' Project, the astonishing audiotapes made available the only known recordings of people who actually experienced enslavement-recordings that had gathered dust in the Library of Congress until they were rendered audible for the first time specifically for this set. Remembering Slavery received the kind of commercial attention seldom accorded projects of this nature-nationwide critical and review coverage as well as extensive coverage on prime-time television, including Good Morning America, Nightline, CBS Sunday Morning, and CNN. Reviewers called the set "chilling ... riveting" (Publishers Weekly) and "something, truly, truly new" (The Village Voice). Now the groundbreaking book component of the set is available for a new generation of readers.

"This project will enrich every American home and classroom." -Publishers Weekly "As vital and necessary a historical document as anyone has ever produced in this country." -The Boston Globe "Moving recollections fill a void in the slavery literature." -The Washington Post Book World "Ira Berlin's fifty-page introduction is as good a synthesis of current scholarship as one will find, with fresh insights for any reader." -The San Diego Union-Tribune "Invaluable." -Chicago Tribune