FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88  
89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   >>   >|  
' but he died de nex' year. Mammy paid him ten cents a mont' a piece fer all us chillun. De boys would wuk fer dey money but I wuz the onliest gal an' Mammy wouldn't let me go off de plantation to make none. Whut I made dar I got, but I didn't make much 'til atter I ma'ied. "Law honey, does yer want to know 'bout my ma'ige? Well, I wuz 15 years ole an' I had a preacher to ma'y me. His name wuz Andrew Brown. In dem days us allus waited 'til de time of year when us had a big meetin' or at Christmus time. Den effen one of us wanted ter git mai'ed, he would perform de weddin' atter de meetin' or atter Chris'mus celebratin'. I had er bluish worsted dress. I mai'ed in Jannywerry, right atter Chris'mus. At my mai'ge us had barbecue, brunswick stew, an' cake. De whole yard wuz full uv folks. "Mammy wuz a 'ligous 'oman an' de fust day of Chris'mus she allus fasted ha'f a day an' den she would pray. Atter dat evvybody would hav' eggnog an' barbecue an' cake effen dey had de money to buy it. Mammy said dat when dey wuz still slaves Marster allus gived 'em Chris'mus, but atter dey had freedom den dey had ter buy dey own rations. Us would have banjer playin' an' dance de pijen-wing and de shuffle-toe. "No mam, George's pa didn' leave him no lan' when he died. Us went ter another farm an' rented when de mai'ge wuz over. George's pa warn't dead, but he didn't offer to do nuthin' fer us. "Yas'um, I'se had eight chilluns of my own. Us ain' never had no lan' us could call our'n. Us jes moved from one farm ter another all our days. This here lan' us is on now 'longs ter Mr. Cline. My son an' his chillun wuks it an' dey give us whut dey kin spare. De Red Cross lady he'ps us an' us gits along somehow or nother." Works Progress Administration Harry L. Hopkins, Administrator Ellen S. Woodward, Assistant Administrator Henry S. Alsberg, Director of the Federal Writers' Project PLANTATION LIFE Interview with: SUSAN MATTHEWS, Age 84 Madison Street, Macon, Georgia Written by: Ruth H. Sanford, Macon, Georgia Edited by: Annie A. Rose, Macon, Georgia Susan Matthews is an intelligent old negress, very tall and weighing close to two hundred pounds. Her eyes were bright, her "store-bought" teeth flashed in a smile as she expressed her willingness to tell us all she remembered "'bout ole times." In a tattered, faded print dress, a misshapen hat and ragged shoes, she sat enjoying the sunshine on the porch while she se
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88  
89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
Georgia
 

barbecue

 

meetin

 

Administrator

 

George

 
chillun
 

wouldn

 

Hopkins

 

MATTHEWS

 

Progress


Administration

 

Woodward

 

Assistant

 

PLANTATION

 
Interview
 

Project

 

Writers

 
Alsberg
 
Director
 

Federal


nother
 

Street

 
expressed
 

willingness

 

remembered

 

flashed

 

bright

 

bought

 

tattered

 

enjoying


sunshine

 
ragged
 
misshapen
 

Sanford

 

Edited

 

Madison

 

onliest

 

Written

 

weighing

 

hundred


pounds

 

Matthews

 

intelligent

 

negress

 
brunswick
 

worsted

 

Jannywerry

 
fasted
 
ligous
 

bluish