Viola B. Muse

Viola B. Muse (born 1890) was an ethnographer and hairdresser who worked for the Federal Writers Project in 1936 and 1937. She interviewed African Americans on their experiences including in and around Tampa, Florida. Her subjects included prominent community leaders, former slaves, and described African American publications of the time, and did other ethnographic work in the Lavilla community of Jacksonville and African American sections of Tampa.[1][2]

She was born in Alabama. She married John P. Muse (died 1964).[1] She worked as a hairdresser in the Lavilla community of Jacksonville.[1]

The Federal Writers Project in Florida was headed by Carita Doggett Corse. Her unit covering "Negros" in the Lavilla section of Jacksonville was headed by Zora Neal Hurston.[1]

Muse interviewed former slaves, including two from Tallahassee (Willie Williams and Charles Coates),[3][4] and field workers including one in Palatka, Florida.[5] She also wrote about churches and education.

She interviewed a female daughter of a Cherokee / African American mother and slave owner father.[6]

  1. ^ a b c d Powell, Meghan. "Documenting the African American Community: Viola B. Muse and the Federal Writers Project in Jacksonville".
  2. ^ "Muse, Viola B. [WorldCat Identities]".
  3. ^ "Search results from Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 to 1938, Available Online, United States, Federal Writers' Project: Slave Narrative Project, Vol. 3, Florida, Anderson-Wilson (with combined interviews of others) (mesn.030/)". Library of Congress.
  4. ^ Project, Federal Writers' (May 1, 2006). Florida Slave Narratives. Applewood Books. ISBN 9781557090126 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ Administration, Works Progress. Florida Slave Narratives A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves. Lulu.com. ISBN 9781387402014 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ "Exploring the Archives: Maritime Literature in North America: "An Ex-Slave Who Went to Africa": Holly Burgess, "Prosperity in Emancipation: An Examination of Viola B. Muse's "An Ex-Slave Who Went to Africa"";". October 28, 2015.