Osnaburg Overalls, Calico Frocks, and Homespun Suits: The Use of Nineteenth Century Georgia Newspaper Notices to Research Slave Clothing and Textiles.” Clothing and Textiles Research Journal 14

This paper discusses the value of newspaper notices in the search for data on slave clothing. Two hundred and seventy-three fugitive slave notices, 10 sheriff notices, and 79 store advertisements were examined from 34 Georgia newspapers published from 1800 to 1865. Although these sources provide us with, in most cases, extremely detailed information about slave clothing and textiles, researchers should also recognize the limitations these sources have. These include a narrow picturing of the slave runaway population (mostly male slaves) as seen in a relatively small number of extant newspapers that carry notices. If researchers keep these restrictions in mind when drawing conclusions based on these sources, extant newspapers of the times can reveal much about the slave clothing which is no longer available for research. Key Words: newspaper sources, slave, textiles In the decade following the American Revolution the state of Georgia moved from an economy based on the cultivation of rice and indigo to one supported largely by the production of cotton. This change did not occur over-night, but the introduction of sea-island cotton &dquo;restore