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Black History Month #10 - The WPA and the Collection of Narratives of Enslaved People


President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his WPA (Works Progress Administration) commissioned the Federal Writer’s Project to interview over 2,300 formery enslaved people in 17 states. Collected from 1936 to 1938, over 70 years after the end of slavery, these one on one interviews are considered some of the most valuable first person accounts ever collected. Here's a link to the Library of Congress page about them, Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 to 1938


The images above are pages from the collection. On the far right is the account of a man named Dennis Simms. He is described as an ex-slave who was born in 1841 on a tobacco plantation in Contee, MD in Prince George's County - only about 10 miles from where Greenbelt is now. To read his narrative, click here.


 
 
 

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VISITOR INFORMATION 

Historic House  

 

10B Crescent Rd.

Greenbelt, MD 20770

Open Sundays 

Tours on the 1/2 hour

1pm to 4:30pm

Admission $5

Exhibition Gallery  

 

Lenore Thomas Straus Exhibit

Greenbelt Community Center

15 Crescent Rd. 

Greenbelt, MD 20770

Open M-Sat 9am-10pm, 

Sundays 10am-7pm

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Greenbelt Museum Office


15 Crescent Road

Greenbelt, Maryland 20770

301-507-6582 

info@greenbeltmuseum.org

Community Pledge

The strength of Greenbelt is diverse people living together in a spirit of cooperation. We celebrate all people. By sharing together all are enriched. We strive to be a respectful, welcoming community that is open, accessible, safe and fair.

Preserving and sharing the New Deal history of an experimental planned community built by FDR in suburban Maryland in 1937 and still thriving today.

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