all the States where
there are ex-slaves still living. They will not apply _in toto_ to your
State as they represent general conclusions reached after reading the
mass of ex-slave material already submitted. However, they will, I hope,
prove helpful as an indication, along broad lines, of what we want.

GENERAL SUGGESTIONS:

1. Instead of attempting to interview a large number of ex-slaves the
workers should now concentrate on one or two of the more interesting and
intelligent people, revisiting them, establishing friendly relations,
and drawing them out over a period of time.

2. The specific questions suggested to be asked of the slaves should be
only a basis, a beginning. The talk should run to all subjects, and the
interviewer should take care to sieze upon the information already
given, and stories already told, and from them derive other questions.

3. The interviewer should take the greatest care not to influence the
point of view of the informant, and not to let his own opinion on the
subject of slavery become obvious. Should the ex-slave, however, give
only one side of the picture, the interviewer should suggest that there
were other circumstances, and ask questions about them.

4. We suggest that each state choose one or two of their most successful
ex-slave interviewers and have them take down some stories _word_ for
_word_. Some Negro informants are marvellous in their ability to
participate in this type of interview. _All stories should be as nearly
word-for-word as is possible._

5. More emphasis should be laid on questions concerning the lives of the
individuals since they were freed.

SUGGESTIONS TO INTERVIEWERS:

The interviewer should attempt to weave the following questions
naturally into the conversation, in simple language. Many of the
interviews show that the workers have simply sprung routine questions
out of context, and received routine answers.

1. What did the ex-slaves expect from freedom? Forty acres and a mule? A
distribution of the land of their masters' plantation?

2. What did the slaves get after freedom? Were any of the plantations
actually divided up? Did their masters give them any money? Were they
under any compulsion after the war to remain as servants?

3. What did the slaves do after the war? What did they receive
generally? What do they think about the reconstruction period?

4. Did secret organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan exert or attempt to
exert any in