First-Person America

Between 1938 and 1942 the Federal Writers' Project set out to create a first-person portrait of America by sending young writers-many of whom later became famous-around the country to interview people from all occupations and backgrounds. This book presents 80 of these diverse life histories, including the stories of a North Carolina patent-medicine pitchman, a retired Oregon prospector, a Bahamian midwife from Florida, a Key West smuggler, recent immigrants to New York, and Chicago jazz musicians.