Slave Narratives

Born in Slavery
Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938

Contains more than 2,300 first-person accounts of slavery and 500 black-and-white photographs of former slaves. These narratives were collected in the 1930s as part of the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and assembled and microfilmed in 1941 as the seventeen-volume Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves. This online collection is a joint presentation of the Manuscript and Prints and Photographs Divisions of the Library of Congress and includes more than 200 photographs from the Prints and Photographs Division that are now made available to the public for the first time. Born in Slavery was made possible by a major gift from the Citigroup Foundation.

To go directly to the slave narratives: Click Here.

To first visit a site identifying the Appalachian slave narratives in the collection and discussing where they came from and how they differ from the slave narratives as a whole: Click Here.

Note: This site contains three sample narratives, including one from East Tennessee which is very much recommended, and its own link to the slave narratives site. Both sites require Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Paul Heinegg

FREE AFRICAN AMERICANS
OF VIRGINIA, NORTH CAROLINA
SOUTH CAROLINA, MARYLAND AND DELAWARE

By Paul Heinegg
Published Online

Paul Heinegg has devoted many years to research mixed race families of the colonial and early American Southeast, and has very generously published the results of his research online.

To see Paul Heinegg's research: Click Here.

To read a 2004 New York Times review of the life and work of Paul Heinegg: Click Here.

Cumberland Gap Genealogical Event

This weekend, Cumberland Gap National Historical Park will host a heritage celebration as part of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial. A "Genealogy Gateway" area will assist visitors with connecting to their own roots, and at sunset Saturday, visitors are invited to join with pioneer descendants from across the U.S. as they walk in the footsteps of their ancestors through historic Cumberland Gap.

To read more: Click Here.

Looking at Legends - Lumbee and Melungeon

Applied Genealogy and the Origins of Tri-racial Isolate Settlements
National Genealogical Society Quarterly 81 (March 1993)

By Virginia Easley DeMarce

To read this paper, which followed "'Verry Slitly Mixt'": Click Here.

'Verry Slitly Mixt'

“‘Verry Slitly Mixt’: Tri-Racial Isolate Families of the Upper South–A Genealogical Study.”
National Genealogical Society Quarterly 80.1 (March 1992): [5]-35.

By Virginia Easley DeMarce, Ph.D.

This seminal paper by noted historian and past National Genealogical Society president, Virginia Easley DeMarce, surveys the literature as of 1992 on tri-racial isolates, including Melungeons and the Goins family, and discusses how genealogical research can contribute to the knowledge of their origins and migrations.

To read the paper: Click Here. (Adobe Acrobat Reader is required.)

Mahala Mullins

Mahala Mullins was a genuine Melungeon legend and undoubtedly the most famous Melungeon of all to the outside word.

To read about her colorful life: Click Here and Click Here.

The Legend of Swift's Silver Mine

By James A. Dougherty
A Geographical Approach to the Legends of Silver Mine

Southwestern Virginia, Southern West Virginia, Eastern Kentucky and Upper East Tennessee all claim the mining of silver by one Swift, who is variously called "John", "George", "William",and "Tom". North Carolina and Pennsylvania are claimed by many as Swift's headquarters in his mining operations. Of the many legends concerning the mine(s), all seem to fall generally into two categories: the "Kentucky Legends" and the "Clinch Legends". By word "Kentucky", reference is made to all the legends which place the mine(s) of Swift in the present states of Kentucky or West Virginia, including the headwaters of the Big Sandy,the Kentucky, the Cumberland the Red Rivers. By the "Clinch Legends", reference is made to the area drained by the Clinch River and its tributaries in East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.

To continue reading this unusually complete account of the Swift legend, with which Melungeons have been fancifully associated by some writers: Click Here.