Before the War we lived in log cabins. There was a row of log cabins a quarter of a mile long. No windows and no floor. We had grass to sit on. Our beds was made of pine poles nailed to the wall and we slept on hay beds. My mama and other slaves pulled grass and let it dry to make the beds with. Our cover was made from our old worn out clothes. On Sunday evenings we played. We put on clean clothes once a week. In summer we bathed in the branch. We did not bathe at all in winter. I went in my shirt tail until I was eleven or twelve years old. Back in slavery time boys did not wear britches. They wore shirts and our hair was long. The slaves say if you cut a childs hair before he or she was ten or twelve years old they wont talk plain until they are that old. Frank Fikes, Ex-Slave, El Dorado, Arkansas Age: About 88 at time of interview
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 13:05:00 +0000