My sister shared a recording of a man who was a slave in the 1800s, and I listened to it last night. Then I found another one that included excerpts of that recording and recordings of other former slaves.

Given the current cultural context, it seemed appropriate to listen to men and women who, in their own words with their own voices, tell what it was like to have been a slave in the South prior to the American Civil War.

The first is of former slave Fountain Hughes, recorded in 1949.

The next is from a story done by ABC News in 1999, using audio recorded in the 1940s. In includes excerpts from the Fountain Hughes recording but also features recording of two former female slaves.

Most often I’ve only seen photos or drawings of slaves in history books or in stories of early America. I have always recognized them as men and women, but listening to them in their own voices helped ground their humanity for me. What struck me most was how gentle and kind they sounded although they had plenty to be bitter about.

It was both astonishing—recordings of men and women who were in fact slaves in the United States—and helpful to listen to, since the recordings bring home the reality that these were real people who experienced one of mankind’s greatest cruelties.