| Ann Gudgel lived in enslavement during the Civil War. In this excerpt, she describes how enslaved persons were vaccinated against smallpox (the process involved infecting a patient with the pus of a smallpox victim). |
Excerpt:
One day they vaccinated all the slaves but mine never took at all. I never told anybody, but I just sat right down by the fireplace and rubbed wood ashes and juice that spewed out of the wood real hard over the scratch. All the others were really sick and had the most awful arms, but mine never did even hurt.
| Interviewee Formerly enslaved person | Birth Year (Age) | Interviewer WPA Volunteer | Enslaver’s Name |
| Ann Gudgel | Unknown | Mildred Roberts | Ball |
| Interview Location | Residence State | Birth Location |
| Anderson County, KY | Kentucky | Unknown |
| Themes & Keywords | Additional Tags: |
| Violence | First person, dialect, witnessed extreme cruelty |
Gudgel_A_2