"I never talk to nobody 'bout this" was the response of one aged African American when asked by a Works Project Administration field worker to share memories of his life in slavery and after emancipation. He and other ex-slaves were uncomfortable with the memories of a time when black and white lives were interwoven through human bondage. Yet the WPA field workers overcame the old people's reticence, and American West scholars T. Lindsay Baker and Julie P. Baker have collected all the known WPA Oklahoma "slave narratives" in this volume for the first time - including fourteen never published before. Their careful editorial notes detail what is known about the interviewers and the process of preparing the narratives.

This unique and original compilation of Work Progress Administration slave narratives contains 145 slave narratives from the states of Oklahoma and Texas. Slave narratives from Oklahoma are difficult to obtain in print format and this title contains all of the narratives from the state. There are a vast amount of photographs included of the actual former slaves who were interviewed.

Autobiographical accounts of former slaves compiled in the 1930s by the Federal Writers Project of the Works Progress Administration.

The 32 reminiscences presented here provide insight into the lives of the enslaved, including recollections of being sold away from parents, suffering harsh punishment by overseers, and living in misery.

Oklahoma Slave Narratives contains a folk history of slavery in the United States from Interviews with former Oklahoma slaves.