Desc: Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives: Directed by Ed Bell, Thomas Lennon. With Whoopi Goldberg, Angela Bassett, Michael Boatman, Roscoe Lee Browne. When the Civil War ended in 1865, more than four million slaves were set free. Over 70 years later, the memories of some 2,000 slave-era survivors were transcribed and preserved by the Library of Congress. These first-person anecdotes, ranging from the brutal to the bittersweet, have been brought to vivid life, featuring the on-camera voices of over a dozen top African-American actors.