Mighty Rough Times I Tell You: Personal Accounts of Slavery in Tennessee

KLIATT

This book is valuable. Most libraries have books about slavery, but firsthand accounts are relatively few. These 36 firsthand accounts are particularly important because they derive from interviews conducted in the late 1920s and early 1930s as part of the Federal Writer's Project. The editor recently discovered the interviews in the archives of Fisk University. Most of the interviews were done by an African-American woman (not by white interviewers, as was often the case), which may explain how unguarded and revealing they are. The stories of these ex-slaves are told in a matter-of-fact tone, which often makes them chilling to read. They describe the everyday brutality of slavery, and also the heroism of slaves who resisted. This is a book that anyone interested in slavery in the Old South (in this case, Tennessee) will want to read. Real Voices, Real History. (1406 Plaza Drive, Winston-Salem, NC 27103). KLIATT Codes: JSA—Recommended for junior and senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2000, John F. Blair Publisher, 189p, 19cm, 00-064191, $7.95. Ages 13 to adult. Reviewer: John Rosser; Professor, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, March 2001 (Vol. 35 No. 2)