redoak

Updated: June 1, 2025

Den de hide wuz put tuh soak in wid de redoak bark. Hit stayed in de water till de hide turnt tan den pa took de hide out uv de redoak dye an hit would be a purty tan. Hit didn' have tuh soak so long. Den he would git his pattern an cut an make tan shoes outn dat tanned hide. We called dem brogans. We all wore shoes cause mah pa made em. We planted indigo an hit growed jes like wheat.

United States. Work Projects Administration - Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States: From Interviews with Former Slaves: Arkansas Narratives, Part 6