rdelma (Philadelphia) an' I 'cided onst three er fo' year
ergo, to go up da're an' live wid 'im. Lawdy, Lawdy, I ain't been so
glad o' nothin' in my life as I wuz ter git back ter Washington, Georgy!
I ain't goin' 'way frum here 'till I dies. Son is mari'ed, an' sich er
'oman as he's got! She's un o' dem smart No'th'n niggers. She 'bused de
So'th an' de white folks down here all de time. I'd er beat her wid my
stick ef'n I'd er had 'tection, but I wuz way off up da're in de No'th
an' didn't know nobody. But I did found a gal what use ter live here an'
went an' stayed wid her 'till I worked an' got 'nough money ter git home
on. Jes' soon as I got here I went straight ter Mr. Sheriff Walton an'
Mr. Sturdivant (Chief of Police) an' tole dem 'bout dat sassy hateful
nigger up da're talkin' 'bout de So'th an' de white folks lak she done,
an dat she say she wuz comin' down here ter see me. I axed dem when I
got er letter sayin' she wuz a-comin' would dey take me ter Augusty ter
meet her an' when she stept off'n de train ter let me take my stick an'
beat her all I wanted ter fer talkin' bout my white folks lak she done.
Dey said: "Aunt Jane, jes' you let us know an' we sho' will take you to
Augusty ter meet her, an' let you beat her all you want ter." But she
ain't never come--she skeered, an she sho' better be, kase I'se home
down here an got all de 'tection I needs. Ef'n she ever do come, I'm
goin' ter beat her wid dis stick an sen' her back to her country up
da're in dat Phillerdelma. She ain't got no sense an' no raisin, neider,
talkin' 'bout de So'th an' my white folks what lives here."

And from the wicked flash from Aunt Jane's eyes, it will be well for her
"sassy" daughter-in-law to stay "up No'th".

PLANTATION LIFE

As viewed by

Ex-Slave

DOSIA HARRIS
159 Valley Street
Athens, Georgia

Written by: Sadie B. Hornsby
Athens --

Edited by: Sarah H. Hall
Athens --
Leila Harris
Augusta --
and
John N. Booth
District Supervisor
Federal Writers' Project
Residencies 6 & 7.

DOSIA HARRIS
Ex-Slave--Age 78

Dosia lives in a red painted frame house. Her very black skin, thick
lips, and broad nose are typical of her African ancestry. She is tall,
thin, and a little stooped, and her wooly hair is fast fading from gray
to almost white. When she greeted the inte