We drove to the Boone Hall mansion on a road flanked by towering live oak trees and Spanish moss.
While the exterior of the mansion is impressive, we realized early on that the mansion itself is not the focus of a visit to this plantation. It was built in the 1930s. A tour of the first floor shows some of the design and décor of the building but gives very little insight into life on the plantation in pre-Civil War days.
But, it’s not the inside of the mansion that makes a tour of Boone Hall so interesting—it’s what’s outside the mansion.
Along the “Avenue of the Oaks” on the way to the mansion, are a number of very simple, small brick buildings. Twenty-seven of these homes were built between 1790 and 1810. Nine homes still remain. Before the Civil War, these were the homes of slaves who worked in the mansion and around the property. Only select slaves lived near the mansion. The others lived in wooden shacks near the fields.
Each of these homes, built from bricks made by slaves on the plantation, consisted of two rooms: a bedroom and a kitchen. Many of the homes had displays about the life of the slaves on the plantation. The first house was the "Praise House," depicting the worship life of the slaves.
Displays outlined key events and important personalities in this struggle, winding up with the election of Barack Obama, the first African American president whose wife is the direct descendent of slaves who had worked in a plantation nearby.
While the tour of the slave homes was sobering and informative, the highlight of our visit to the plantation was a presentation on the Gullah people by an African American woman who is a descendent of slaves who lived and worked at Boone Hall.
We had not known much about the Gullah people before our visit. We learned that they lived and still live in tight-knit communities in various sections of the Atlantic coast in the South.
The Gullah people speak their own language, which could be viewed as a Creole version of English with intonations that sound very African. During the days of slavery, this enabled them to talk with each other in ways that could not be understood by the owners.
Gullah people also prepare their own foods, often using spices that came from their African roots. In fact, “Gullah” is actually a version of “Angolan,” a reference to one of the countries from which the Gullah people were captured and taken to the U.S.
Despite the hardships and suffering of slavery, the Gullah people developed a rich life where they cared for each other, prayed for each other, comforted each other, and supported each other.
Their music, crafts, stories, history, and food continues to demonstrate this rich legacy of hope and faith today.
This was not the story we expected to learn when we visited a plantation. But, it was a warm, rich story that encouraged and touched us in surprising ways while we were at the plantation--and the days since our visit.
While the exterior of the mansion is impressive, we realized early on that the mansion itself is not the focus of a visit to this plantation. It was built in the 1930s. A tour of the first floor shows some of the design and décor of the building but gives very little insight into life on the plantation in pre-Civil War days.
But, it’s not the inside of the mansion that makes a tour of Boone Hall so interesting—it’s what’s outside the mansion.
Along the “Avenue of the Oaks” on the way to the mansion, are a number of very simple, small brick buildings. Twenty-seven of these homes were built between 1790 and 1810. Nine homes still remain. Before the Civil War, these were the homes of slaves who worked in the mansion and around the property. Only select slaves lived near the mansion. The others lived in wooden shacks near the fields.
Each of these homes, built from bricks made by slaves on the plantation, consisted of two rooms: a bedroom and a kitchen. Many of the homes had displays about the life of the slaves on the plantation. The first house was the "Praise House," depicting the worship life of the slaves.
As we moved through the homes, the content of the displays changed from slave life on the plantation to the struggle for equality and civil rights for African Americans in the U.S.
Displays outlined key events and important personalities in this struggle, winding up with the election of Barack Obama, the first African American president whose wife is the direct descendent of slaves who had worked in a plantation nearby.
While the tour of the slave homes was sobering and informative, the highlight of our visit to the plantation was a presentation on the Gullah people by an African American woman who is a descendent of slaves who lived and worked at Boone Hall.
We had not known much about the Gullah people before our visit. We learned that they lived and still live in tight-knit communities in various sections of the Atlantic coast in the South.
The Gullah people speak their own language, which could be viewed as a Creole version of English with intonations that sound very African. During the days of slavery, this enabled them to talk with each other in ways that could not be understood by the owners.
Gullah people also prepare their own foods, often using spices that came from their African roots. In fact, “Gullah” is actually a version of “Angolan,” a reference to one of the countries from which the Gullah people were captured and taken to the U.S.
Despite the hardships and suffering of slavery, the Gullah people developed a rich life where they cared for each other, prayed for each other, comforted each other, and supported each other.
Their music, crafts, stories, history, and food continues to demonstrate this rich legacy of hope and faith today.
This was not the story we expected to learn when we visited a plantation. But, it was a warm, rich story that encouraged and touched us in surprising ways while we were at the plantation--and the days since our visit.
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