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CONTENT WARNING: Some of these texts contain offensive and racist language used by the creators of these documents.
W. T. Couch (1901), a white publisher and editor, was also a part-time official of the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration, as assistant and associate director for North Carolina, 1936-1937, and as director for the southern region, 1938-1939. These papers include his correspondence relating to the project and narratives (called "life histories") of about 1,200 individuals, written by about 60 members of the project after one or more oral history interviews with the subjects. Persons interviewed, many of them African Americans, described life in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.
Works
03709_0157: A Self Made Man
L. L. Jordan, no date given, Mecklenburg County, N.C., white, painter, Athens, 13 and 29 September 1939
03709_0161: Papa
Nathan Wild, [1897?], Yvey, Poland, Jewish, grocer, Savannah, 16 January 1939
03709_0163: A Visit to the Country
Fannie Busbin, circa 1849, no place given, white, farmer, Winterville, 9, 14 September 1939
03709_0164: "I've Took in Sewing Fifty Years"
Sarah Frances Fellows, [1863?], no place given, white, seamstress, Athens, 7, 11, and 26 July 1939
03709_0165: Life of a Retired Mill Worker
James Herring, 1871, no place given, white, retired mill operator, Athens, 10 January 1939
03709_0166: I Ain't No Midwife
Mary Willingham, 1880, Clarke County, Black, practical nurse, Athens, 14 and 24 March, 29 May, and 9 June 1939
03709_0168: I Ain't No Midwife (third version)
Mary Willingham, 1880, Clarke County, Black, practical nurse, Athens, 14 and 24 March, 29 May, and 9 June 1939
Collaboration is restricted.
03709_0170: I Don't Know What's the Matter
Edward J. Bacon, no date given, Athens, Black, brick mason, Athens, 31 May and 14 June 1939
Collaboration is restricted.