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Work Projects Administration

"Arkansas Narratives, Part 2"


She is living in Chicago now, married to the man she wanted to give the
lock of hair to and doing well the last I heard from her. She was a good
woman, just marked with a high temper. There was no reason why we should
not have lived together and gotten along well. We loved each other and
were making money hand over fist when we separated.

Opinions
"The young people are too much for me. Women are awful now. The young
ones are too wild for me. The old ones allow them too much freedom. They
are not given proper instruction and training by their elders."

Interviewer's Comment
Dortch's grandfather on the father's side was a white man and either his
master or someone closely connected with his master--his first master.
His last master was the father of his half-sister, Cordelia, born before
any of the other members of his family. These facts account largely for
the good treatment accorded his mother and father in slave time and for
the friendly attitude toward them subsequent to slavery.
Dortch's whole sister, Adrianna, is living next door to him, and is
eighty-five years old going on eighty-six. She has a clearer memory than
Dortch, and has also a clear vigorous mentality.


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