Dear Afrigeneas members,

I am a travel essayist and historian who is currently writing a book about the legacy of slavery in America. The book, called "Our Slave States," will be published by Knopf in 2005. I'm spending this summer traveling through the American South, writing about places where the memories of slavery still linger (among both blacks and whites), talking to descendants and experts, and visiting historic sites (both famous and little-known).

My goal is to tell the story of slavery in a way that it hasn't quite been told before: to talk about what life under slavery was *really* like in various places, and how the traces of that remain today.

I'd be grateful to hear from any members of this forum who might have thoughts or suggestions about this project, especially regarding places or people I might visit as I journey through the South. Among the things I am interested in are:

-- plantation sites
-- slave cemeteries
-- collections of artifacts
-- family reunions
-- communities of slave descendants
-- local stories and folklore

I'm really looking to tell some of those little-known but amazing stories that I know are hidden out there.

If anyone would like to email me with ideas or suggestions, I would love to hear from you, and I can also tell you more about the project.

Thanks for your help.

sincerely,

Adam Goodheart
Fellow, the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience
adam.g@att.net