Among its most noteworthy achievements, the Federal Writers’ Project (FWP) conducted more than 2,000 interviews with former slaves in 17 states from 1936 to 1938. These oral histories offer first-hand accounts of slave life in the United States and personal reactions to bondage. Virtually forgotten for decades, the Slave Narrative Collection was rediscovered in the late 1960s, marking a major turning point in the historical understanding of American slavery as well as the people who endured and survived it.

This presentation offers an in-depth look at these oral histories and traces their influence in popular culture, from their rediscovery to the present day.

Yetman is Emeritus Chancellors Club Teaching Professor of American Studies and Sociology at the University of Kansas. His publications include When I Was a Slave: Memoirs from the Slave Narrative Collection as well as Voices from Slavery: Selections from the Slave Narrative Collection and Majority and Minority: The Dynamics of Race and Ethnicity in American Life.

The Federal Writers’ Project (FWP) helped define America and American literature by supporting literary talent during the Great Depression. In association with the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association, the Kansas City Public Library commemorates the 75th anniversary of this New Deal program with a series of free events throughout September and October 2009, including a screening of the documentary Soul of a People: Writing America’s Story.

Soul of a People programs at the Kansas City Public Library are sponsored by the American Library Association Public Programs Office with the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities: great ideas brought to life.