I visited Stagville Plantation, twenty miles north of Durham, NC, about ten years ago. On the eve of the Civil War, it had been one of the largest plantations in the Antebellum South. In 1977 it opened as a museum under the auspices of the State of North Carolina, Division of Historic Sites.
You may have to steel yourself the first time you visit a plantation where your ancestors may have been held in bondage, tortured, murdered, or worked to death. Many myths, and outright lies, have been used to describe what happened in such places. However, the courage, ingenuity and determination required to survive during slavery is the stuff of legend. Enslaved Africans weren't supposed to have those qualities, which is probably why this part of history has never been taught in American schools.
Stagville had approximately 900 enslaved Africans, working almost
30,000 acres in 1860. They not only worked the land, but built much of the infra-structure needed to accommodate such an enterprise. The enslaved built the Great Barn, which was the largest commercial building in the south in the mid 1800's. The structure, which still stands today, was built without any nails! It is held together by the joints the workers used, based on their ship building expertise. In fact, when you look up to the ceiling of the barn it resembles the hull of a ship. This is just one example of the craftsmanship of the enslaved Africans. Another example is Horton Grove, where the slave quarters were located. Horton Grove consisted of four, two story houses where about eighty people lived.
On my first visit I saw something that was a testament to who built Horton Grove, fingerprints in the brickwork. The fingerprints indicate that the workers were hurried by their overseers to take the bricks out of the kiln by hand before they had dried. I was amazed to see the workers' fingerprints in the brickwork of a chimney, evidence of someone's ancestry. In fact, some scholars believe such findings, and other artifacts from Stagville, reflect secret survival and religious practices.
With the end of the Civil War in 1865, freedom came for the enslaved. Some stayed and continued to work as sharecroppers. Others left to experience freedom for the first time, however, without much political or economic support.
After becoming a tour guide I made many trips to Stagville with busloads of tourists. Each time we arrived we would say a prayer for the many who died at places like Stagville.
Visit Historic Stagville, virtually, at: www.historicstagvillefoundation.org.
You may have to steel yourself the first time you visit a plantation where your ancestors may have been held in bondage, tortured, murdered, or worked to death. Many myths, and outright lies, have been used to describe what happened in such places. However, the courage, ingenuity and determination required to survive during slavery is the stuff of legend. Enslaved Africans weren't supposed to have those qualities, which is probably why this part of history has never been taught in American schools.
Stagville had approximately 900 enslaved Africans, working almost
30,000 acres in 1860. They not only worked the land, but built much of the infra-structure needed to accommodate such an enterprise. The enslaved built the Great Barn, which was the largest commercial building in the south in the mid 1800's. The structure, which still stands today, was built without any nails! It is held together by the joints the workers used, based on their ship building expertise. In fact, when you look up to the ceiling of the barn it resembles the hull of a ship. This is just one example of the craftsmanship of the enslaved Africans. Another example is Horton Grove, where the slave quarters were located. Horton Grove consisted of four, two story houses where about eighty people lived.
On my first visit I saw something that was a testament to who built Horton Grove, fingerprints in the brickwork. The fingerprints indicate that the workers were hurried by their overseers to take the bricks out of the kiln by hand before they had dried. I was amazed to see the workers' fingerprints in the brickwork of a chimney, evidence of someone's ancestry. In fact, some scholars believe such findings, and other artifacts from Stagville, reflect secret survival and religious practices.
With the end of the Civil War in 1865, freedom came for the enslaved. Some stayed and continued to work as sharecroppers. Others left to experience freedom for the first time, however, without much political or economic support.
After becoming a tour guide I made many trips to Stagville with busloads of tourists. Each time we arrived we would say a prayer for the many who died at places like Stagville.
Visit Historic Stagville, virtually, at: www.historicstagvillefoundation.org.
No comments:
Post a Comment