The Elders Speak: The West Feliciana Parish African American Oral History Project
By Teresa Parker Farris
Farming
Nearly all of the interviewees worked as sharecroppers, growing cotton, corn, or sweet potatoes. The labor was grueling as days began at sun-up and did not end until the evening hours and, in addition, required significant physical exertion regardless of the weather. Many of the interviewees were forced to leave school at an early age in order to help their families work in the fields. Despite such intensive labor, the crops yielded only a meager amount of money for the families, allowing just enough income to pay rent, buy food, and purchase other necessary provisions.
Audio PlayerLouise Williams remembers picking cotton and corn for only 40 cents a day.
Audio PlayerTravis Carter explains carrying debts following insufficient harvests.
Audio PlayerSallie Roach Smith recalls trying to pick a hundred pounds of cotton.
Audio PlayerRosia Pate remembers her father traveling to Woodville, Mississippi to sell his cotton and settle debts with local merchants.
Audio PlayerGeraldine London explains typical day in the field and doing homework by kerosene lamplight.
Audio PlayerElizabeth Lee recalls picking cotton during the cooler morning and evening hours.
Audio PlayerEllen Hardy shares how her father planned their days picking cotton and potatoes.
Audio PlayerRobert Sterling explains how he worked in fields before and after school.
Audio PlayerAlice Johnson remembers picking cotton, potatoes, and beans and leaving school early to help her stepfather farm.
Audio PlayerTurlie Richardson reflects coming from the "hard time," picking strawberries to earn money for clothes.