Slave Narratives, Oklahoma

This is a very interesting book. This is a series of interviews of former slaves living in Oklahoma in the late 1930's. Most of them were in their 80's or 90's and were children during the Civil War, but many of them had vivid memories of slavery and also recalled the stories that had been handed down to them from their parents and grandparents. Although the stories are fascinating, most of them tend to downplay the harsh reality of slavery somewhat. I think this may be due to the fact that the narratives were collected in the 1930's, when the Ku Klux Klan was still quite active in the south, which may have helped to inhibit some of the interviewees from revealing everything they knew or felt. But as long as you read these narratives with that in mind, they are quite fascinating and cover many many aspects of life for slaves before, during, and after the Civil War, and I think it's wonderful that someone had the presence of mind to collect these wonderful historical accounts of the people who were actually involved.