African American ex-slave portrait, Julia Gurdner   Save
Ohio History Connection
Description: Photograph of Julia Gurdner, an ex-slave who lived in Allen County, Ohio, District 1. Mrs. Gurdner resided at the home of her daughter at 1222 South Main Street, Lima, Ohio in Allen County. The photograph was taken by staff of the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The Federal Writers' Project (FWP) was a United States federal government project to fund written work and support writers during the Great Depression. On April 1, 1937, the FWP received formal approval and instructions to conduct interviews of surviving ex-slaves in Ohio. Most of the narratives were compiled in 1937 and 1938 and gathered from around the state. After the termination of the Federal Writers' Project, most narratives were transferred to the Writers' Unit of the Library of Congress. However, an additional 28 narratives were discovered in the State Archives holdings of the Ohio History Connection. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: sc1495_01_01
Subjects: African American women; African American Ohioans; Slavery; Former slaves
Places: Lima (Ohio); Allen County (Ohio)