Ohio Federal Writers' Project

Description

Reverse reads: "Montgomery Co; People at work + play-Alfred Murphy; Never too old to learn! That's the slogan of Alfred Murphy, 105 year old ex-slave, a pupil in a literacy class conducted by the WPA in Columbus, Ohio. Mr. Murphy lived 33 years in slavery, spent two years in the Confederate Army, throwing up breastwork. He was at Richmond when General Lee surrendered. Unemployed teachers, hired by the WPA, are teaching 9,000 Ohioans to read and write. Ohio has 320,000 illiterates, America, 3,200,000." Stamped: Information Unit, W.P.A. in Ohio, Clinton Building-Columbus, Ohio In the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration sponsored a Federal Writers' Project dedicated to chronicling the experience of slavery as remembered by former slaves. African-American men and women born into slavery were interviewed. Their stories were recorded and transcribed.

Record Contributed By

Ohio History Connection

Record Harvested From

Ohio Digital Network