MAP

This map shows what some of the last generation of enslaved Americans said about literacy. All interviews come from the 2,300 interviews held at the Library of Congress. Each entry notes the speaker's name, the location and date of the interview, if available, and an excerpt related to literacy or schooling. Citations indicate the volume number and page numbers where the transcript can be found. Interviews conducted by the "Negro Writers' Unit" in Florida are indicated with NWU. If a photograph of the speaker is available, it is included with the entry. See “Reading the Transcripts” for more information about the interviews.

Markers indicate the location where a speaker was interviewed. A red pin indicates a single entry in a location. Blue and yellow circles indicate multiple entries in a single location, with the number of entries noted at the center of the circle. Use the Command key and scroll bar to zoom in and see individual entries. Click on the upper right hand corner of the entry to close it.

The link "Interview Transcript" leads to the page of the original transcript in the Library of Congress collection from which the excerpt is taken. Many of the original transcripts recount terrible brutality. Others use terms that may be deeply offensive to modern readers. Reading the original transcripts means confronting a shameful part of the nation's past in the language of the times. Readers should be prepared for that before going to the transcripts.

Photo: Monroe Brackins, Hondo TX