Epilogue Summary

The writers assigned to the Federal Writers' Project interviewed the former slaves in the 1930s so they could record their words and experiences before they died and the memories died with them. Mostly, their sentiments contained much bitterness about slavery and the freedom they were granted. According to Thomas Hall, "...the Negro is still in a bad way in the United States, no matter in what part he lives." Thomas was so bitter about the whole thing that he would not tell his story to the writers, mainly because he claims that the "white folks have been and are now and always will be against the Negro." (156).

Epilogue Analysis

Honest reflection is the result of the Federal Writers' Project that began in the 1930s. With the research, compilation, and editing of Julius Lester, that is accomplished with To Be a Slave. Written in...