The nigger ain't got no country--this is white man's
town.
"What I been doin' since the war? Well, I'm a good cook. When I puts on
the white apron, I knows what to do. Then I preaches. The Lord done
revealed things to me.
"I'll tell you 'bout this younger generation. They is goin' to
destruction. They is not envelopin (developing) their education.
"Well I done tole you all I know. Guess I tole you 'bout a book, ain't
I?"
Interviewer: Mrs. Bernice Bowden
Person interviewed: Tom Windham, 723 Missouri, Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Age: 98
"I was twenty-one years old when the war was settled. My mother and my
grandmother kep' my age up and after the death of them I knowed how to
handle it myself.
"My old master's name was Butler and he was pretty fair to his darkies.
He give em plenty to eat and wear.
"I was born and raised in Indian Territory and emigrated from there to
Atlanta, Georgia when I was about twelve or thirteen. We lived right in
Atlanta. I cleaned up round the house. Yes ma'm, that's what I followed.
When the Yankees come to Atlanta they just forced us into the army.
After I got into the army and got used to it, it was fun--just like meat
and bread. Yankees treated me good. I was sorry when it broke up. When
the bugle blowed we knowed our business.
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