This page from the Library of Congress allows you to hear in their own words the voices of those who were enslaved, who the confederacy fought to keep enslaved. It’s surreal to me to listen to Fountain Hughes talk about how his grandfather was owned by Thomas Jefferson. I’m so glad that slavery no longer exists but we still have a long way to go to remove the stain of hate from such a legacy. Removing monuments & plaques which seek to honor those who fought to preserve such an oppressive existence is just the beginning.

The Voices from the Days of Slavery Collection provides sound recordings of former slaves describing their lives. The former slaves discuss how they felt about slavery, slaveholders, how slaves were coerced, their families, and freedom. Those interviewed spoke sixty or more years after the end of their enslavement, and it is their full lives, rather than their lives during slavery, that are reflected in these audio interviews.

Source: Voices from the Days of Slavery – Faces and Voices from the Presentation (American Memory from the Library of Congress)