Featured Reading: The Thread Collectors
The Thread Collectors: A NovelPublication Date: 2022
Join Shaunna J. Edwards and Alyson Richman at the _TBD_ on September 10 and 11, 2023, as the authors share how the intersection of the American Civil War and their own Black and Jewish heritage inspired the converging stories of 2022's The Thread Collectors.
Tips for Searching in This Topic
Search Tip #1
A search term can be used in combination with another search term to improve the relevance of your search results in databases, the Library's Discover and Catalog searches, and even in Google and other search engines.
To find narrative or autobiographical writings penned by American Slaves, start with the search term "slaves" then add a second or even third search term.
Examples:
- Slaves AND Narratives
- Slaves AND "Social Conditions"
- Slaves AND "United States" AND Biography
Search Tip #2
Try searching Slavery, a named person, or named place as a subject instead of a keyword to limit results to materials that are about that topic. A keyword search only means that your searched term appears somewhere in the text of the books and articles in your results.
Search Tip #3
As an example, here are just a few of the subject terms we noted when retrieving the materials listed on this page:
| Slave narratives | Slave narratives -- United States |
| Slaves' writings, American | Slaves -- United States -- Biography |
| Slaves -- United States -- Social conditions | African American abolitionists |
| Fugitive slaves -- United States | Douglass, Frederick |
| Jacobs, Harriet A | Lane, Lunsford |
Need a quick start?
Here is a list of McDermott Library's materials on the topic of American slavery narratives from a saved advanced search.
There is always more to be found! Try adjusting keywords or adding names or location to shape your results.
Selected Slave Narrative Collections on the Web
- Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 to 1938This joint presentation of the Manuscript and Prints and Photographs divisions of the Library of Congress.contains more than 2,300 first-person accounts of slavery and 500 black-and-white photographs of former slaves.
- Frederick Douglass Papers (Library of Congress)Contains more than 1,000 digitized manuscripts from abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass.
- North American Slave NarrativesPart of UNC University Library's Documenting the American South, this collection includes all the existing autobiographical narratives of self-emancipated and formerly enslaved people published as broadsides, pamphlets, or books in English up to 1920. Also included are many of the biographies of self-emancipated and formerly enslaved people and some significant fictionalized first-person accounts of enslavement published in English before 1920.
- Slave Letters (Duke University Library)Duke University's David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library provides a compelling list of correspondence from American slaves and formerly enslaved individuals, book recommendations, and links to helpful guides.
- Voices Remembering Slavery: Freed People Tell Their StoriesThe Library of Congress presents audio recordings captured between 1932 and 1975 in nine states. Twenty-two interviewees discuss how they felt about slavery, slaveholders, coercion of slaves, their families, and freedom. Several individuals sing songs, many of which were learned during the time of their enslavement.
Primary Resources at McDermott Library
Visit the Primary Sources tab in this guide for a complete list of McDermott Library databases containing newspapers, diaries, journals, interviews, and other first-hand accounts across various subject areas.
Can't find it? Contact ILL!
Books and articles not found in UTD Library collections can be requested at no charge through Interlibrary Loan (ILL).
Delivery time: Books/Media: 5-10 business days; Article/Chapter PDF: 1-2 days.