These young people going to
school don't mean good to nobody. They dance all the night and all the
time, and do everything else. That man across the street runs a whiskey
house where they dance and do everything they're big enough to do. They
ain't worth nothing."
Interviewer: Pernella M. Anderson
Person interviewed: Sarah Douglas
Route 2, Box 19-A, El Dorado, Arkansas
Age: 82?
[Illustration: Sarah and Sam Douglas]
[TR: The Library of Congress photo archive notes "'Tom' written in
pencil above 'Sam' in title."]
"I was born in Alabama. I don't know when though. I did not find out
when I was born because old miss never told me. My ma died when I was
real small and my old miss raised me. I had a hard time of my life. I
slept on the floor just like a cat--anywhere I laid down I slept. In
winter I slept on rags. If I got sick old miss would give me plenty of
medicine because she wanted me to stay well in order to work. My old
master was name John Buffett and old misses name was Eddie Buffett. She
would fix my bread and licker in a tin lid and shove it to me on the
floor. I never ate at the table until I was twelve and that was after
freedom.
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