Episode Summary:
The Federal Writers’ Project set out to create a series of books that held up a mirror to America, and chronicled communities that had long been ignored. Howard University professor Sterling Brown led the agency’s effort to document African American history in a series of books. In Virginia, chemistry professor Roscoe Lewis led a small team to produce the first book in that national series, titled The Negro in Virginia. Lewis recruited a dozen Black writers and researchers across the state for a pioneering effort that recorded interviews with nearly 300 formerly enslaved people. They navigated a backlash from state editors and local officials. Against all odds, their book on Black life became a national Book-of-the-Month Club selection, and a milestone on the path to the Civil Rights movement.
Speakers:
Audrey Davis, historian
Julian Hayter, historian
Gregg Kimball, historian
Kiki Petrosino, poet
Links and Resources:
Photo essay about East End Cemetery by Kiki Petrosino and Brian Palmer in VQR
Virginia Humanities Q&A with David A. Taylor
Washington Post article on Roscoe Lewis and The Negro in Virginia
Alexandria Black History Museum
Reading List:
The Negro in Virginia (Library of Virginia)
White Blood by Kiki Petrosino
Long Past Slavery: Representing Race in the Federal Writers’ Project by Catherine A. Stewart
To Walk About in Freedom by Carole Emberton
The Dream is Lost by Julian Hayter
Credits:
Host: Chris Haley
Director: Andrea Kalin
Producers: Andrea Kalin, David A. Taylor, James Mirabello
Writer: David A. Taylor
Editors: Ethan Oser and Julie Chalhoub
Story Editor: Michael May
Additional Voices: Skip Coblyn, Sherry Carter-Brownell, Robert Mirabello, James Mirabello and Danielle Nance
Featuring music and archival material from:
Pond5
Library of Congress
National Archives
For additional content, visit peoplesrecorder.info or follow us on social media: @peoplesrecorder
Produced with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Virginia Humanities.
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