loor and
knocking his heels together.) He does chores about his yard; looks years
younger than he really is and enjoys good health. His hair is partly
white; his memory very good and his chief delight is talking about God
and his goodness. He has preached the gospel in his humble way for a
number of years, thereby gaining the name of "Father" Coates.

REFERENCE

1. Personal interview with Charles Coates--2015 Windle Street,
Jacksonville, Florida

FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT
American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit)

Viola B. Muse, Field Worker
Jacksonville, Florida
December 16, 1936

IRENE COATES

Immediately after slavery in the United States, the southern white
people found themselves without servants. Women who were accustomed to
having a nurse, maid, cook and laundress found themselves without
sufficient money to pay wages to all these. There was a great amount of
work to be done and the great problem confronting married women who had
not been taught to work and who thought it beneath their standing to
soil their hands, found it very difficult.

There were on the other hand many Negro women who needed work and young
girls who needed guidance and training.

The home and guidance of the aristocratic white people offered the best
opportunity for the dependent un-schooled freed women; and it was in
this kind of home that the ex-slave child of this story was reared.

Irene Coates of 2015 Windle Street, Jacksonville, Florida, was born in
Georgia about 1859. She was close to six years of age when freedom was
declared.

She was one among the many Negro children who had the advantage of
living under the direct supervision of kind whites and receiving the
care which could only be excelled by an educated mother.

Jimmie and Lou Bedell were the names of the man and wife who saw the
need of having a Negro girl come into their home as one in the family
and at the same time be assured of a good and efficient servant in years
to come.

When Irene was old enough, she became the nurse of the Bedell baby and
when the family left Savannah, Georgia to come to Jacksonville, they
brought Irene with them.

Although Irene was just about six years old when the Civil War ended,
she has vivid recollection of happenings during slavery. Some of the
incidents which happened were told her by her slave associates after
slavery ended and some of them she remembers herself.

Two incidents which she considers caused respect for