What follows is a very small sampling of excerpts from the ex-slave narratives. In these quotes, former slaves are speaking about the health care they received. As you will see, the type of care received and who provided the care varied greatly.

Anna Lee of Texas

"When we become sick we had awful good care taken of us, yes sir, our Master was awful good to us. He first turned us over to our old negro mama to doctor and if she did not get us well then we had the white doctor with us. Our old negro mama she got her hoe and sack and to the woods she went gathering herbs to make our medicine out of. Well she gathered cami weed roots, peach tree leaves, red oak bark and privet roots; cooked or boiled them all down to a thick syrup and gave to us for chills, fever, malaria and so on. She used pine tree bark, onions and pure honey to make us a cough syrup out of for our cold and coughs and it was real good son - better than anything these here doctors can give these days."

(Supplement 2, 6.4, p. 2284)

John Mosley of Texas

"When the slave became sick we most time had the best care take of us. Maser let our old mammy doctor us and she used herbs from the woods, such as: cami weeds, peach tree leaves, red oak bark, for fever, chills and malaria and yes one more weed, privet weed for T.B. or things that way that the white doctor could not cure. Yes if we got a leg or arm broken Maser would have the white doctor with us, but that was about all for our old negro mammy was one of the best doctors in the world with her herb teas. When she gives you some tea made from herbs you could just bet it would sure do you good."

(Supplement 2, 7.6, p. 2804-2805)

George Kye of Arkansas

"Old master wouldn't let us take herb medicine, and he got all our medicine in Van Buren when we was sick. But I wore a buckeye on my neck just the same."

(7.1, p. 173)

Isaac Stier of Mississippi

"De slaves was well treated when dey got sick. My marster had a standin' doctor what he paid by de year. Dey was a horspital building near de quarters an' a good old granny woman to nuss de sick. Dey was five or six beds in a rom. One room was for mens an' one for wimmins."

(7.2, p. 144)

Gus Smith of Missouri

"There was not many good doctors in those days, but my grandfather was an old fashioned herb doctor. I remember him well. I was about twenty-five years old when he died. Everybody knew him in dat country and he doctored among de white people, one of de best doctors of his kind."

(11.8, p. 330)

No name given for this man from Louisiana

"Dr. Henderson was the doctor on our plantation and he took care of all sickness. He was always on hand to attend the women when they gave birth to their children. After giving aid and treatment he left them in charge of some of the midwives or other women on the place. They got pretty good attention. The old heads, women too old for field work or work in the big house, usually looked after the sick."

(vol. 19, p. 157)

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