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Marianna, Arkansas
Age Born 1866
"I was raised second year after the surrender. I don't know a father or mother. They was dead when I was five years
old. I had no sisters nor brothers. Mrs. Cynthia Hall raised me. She raised my mother. Master Hall was her husband.
They was old people and they was so good to me. They had no children and I lived in the house with them. I never
went to school a day in my life. I can't read. I can count money.
"My mother was dark. I married when I was fifteen years old. I have four children living. They are all dark. They
are about the same color but darker than I am.
"No ma'am, I don't believe one could be voodooed. I lived nearly all my life with white folks and they don't heed no
foolishness like that, do they? I cooked, worked in the field, washed and ironed.
"I married three times. The first time at Raymond, Mississippi. I never had no big weddings.
"Seems like some folks have lost their grip and ain't willing to start over. I don't know much to say for the young
people. They are not smart. They got more schooling. They try to shirk all the work they can. I never seen no Ku
Klux in my life. People used to raise nearly all their living at home and now they depend on buying nearly
everything. Well, I think it is bad."
Interviewer Samuel S. Taylor"
