As always Anita you look at things indepth before you give an answer.  It takes more than the WPA Narratives. Oral Histories are valuable and can sometimes shed new light on and new life into a subject that many do not want to re-visit fearing that they might discover something that they do or do not wish to discover.  Jane Steele.

-----Original Message-----
>From: Anita Wills <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Jun 15, 2007 3:05 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Slavery and Unanswered Questions
>
>I don't understand how you can come to conclusions about slavery when you 
>only read the WPA narratives. You are skipping the narratives of Frederick 
>Douglass, and others who escaped and described the horrors of slavery. My 
>ancestors recollections are just as valuable as the ones you are quoting. 
>She was talking to family, as was her son (my Great Grandfather), who was 
>also a slave. She described the ship that they were brought over here on  
>(which was a Dutch ship), and going to an Island in the Caribbean.  My 
>Great-Grandfather described being hoisted up in a barn and whipped as a 
>child. He also described how he felt when they were sold away from their 
>mother, by their white father.  By the way, my ancestor lived until 1912, 
>and her son died in 1938. They both lived the remaining years of their lives 
>in Pennsylvania. Their stories are now memorialized in writing by various 
>family members.
>
>So it was not 150 years ago.
>
>
>Anita
>
>>From: [log in to unmask]
>>Reply-To: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history         
>>      <[log in to unmask]>
>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>Subject: Re: Slavery and Unanswered Questions
>>Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:47:09 EDT
>>
>>I don't understand how an ancestry with individuals who lived 150 years ago
>>per se gives anyone any particular knowledge or expertise that can be 
>>brought
>>to  bear in this discussion.
>>
>>
>>
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>>http://www.aol.com.
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Lillian Jane Steele