One of the things I especially like about the W.P.A. Ex-slave narratives (at least in Oklahoma) is that the project director (in the 1930s) refused to allow the interviewer/transcribers to correct the transcripts. The interviews were conducted using old wire recorders and he insisted that every word and every syllable be written exactly as spoken. He told the (mostly English teachers) doing the work that people in the future should be able to "hear the interviews" by reading the transcripts and not some sanitized version of history.