After several days in Vicksburg, immersing ourselves in Civil War and Mississippi River history (see post – ctsprinterlife: OTR 8.0: Mississippi Part Three), we decidedto head east to visit Jackson, before continuing our journey south along the Mississippi River.
Our timing turned out to be impeccable asMMOA was just opening a new exhibit entitled New Symphony of Time. The exhibit is ongoing and part of the permanent collection of the MMOA. The exhibit consists of 170 works by noted artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe, Albert Bierstadt and Benny Andrews.Additionally, the exhibit includes many works by talented Mississippi artists.
msmuseumart.org
Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902) A Scene in the Rockies, Lake Silva Plans, not dated, Oil on canvas
New Symphony of Time expands and illuminates the boundaries of Mississippi’s narrative. Exploring the themes of ancestry and memory; migration, movement, and home; shared humanity; the natural environment; and liberty for all, the exhibition is inspired by Margaret Walker’s epic poem, “This is My Century: Black Synthesis of Time.” (Above paragraph is taken from the curator notes.) The poem is interspersed in the post below.
Throughout the exhibit certain ideas resonate: personal and collective memory, history and the connection to place, as well as the roles artists play in pursuit of civil rights and racial equality.
Helene Canizaro (1911-1997) Stafford Springs,1974, Oil on canvasGeorgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986) The old Maple Tree, Lake George, 1926, Oil on canvasMildred Nungester Wolfe (1912-2009) The Old Studio, 1957, Oil on canvas
This is My Century: Black Synthesisof Time by ---Margaret WalkerO Man, behold your destiny,
Look on this life
and know our future living
our former lives from these our present days
now melded into one.
Hale Woodruff (1900-1980) Mississippi Wilderness, c. 1944, Oil on canvas
Queens of the Nile,Gods of our Genesis,
Parade of Centuries
behold the rising sun.
The dying Western sky
with yawning gates of death,
from decadence and dissonance
destroying false and fair,
worlds of our galaxies,
our waning moons and suns
look on this living hell
and see the rising sun.
Theora Hamblett (1895-1977) Walking, Meditating in the Woods,1963, Oil on canvas
This my centuryI saw it grow
from darkness into dawn.
I watched the molten lava pour
from red volcanic skies;
Islands and Mountains heave
into the sea
Move Man into the spiraled axis turn
and saw six suns and sunsets rise and burn.
Karl Wolfe (1903-1984) Xanadu (View from Studio Window), c. 1960s, Oil on board
Osiris, Isis, black and beautiful gods,
When came your spectacle
of rythmed life and death?
You gods of love
on pyres of sacrifice
our human hearts become
old hearthstones of our tribal birth and flame:
the hammer and the forge,
the anvil and the fire,
the righteous sparks go wild
like rockets in the sky.
The fireworks overhead
flame red and blue and gold
against on darkened sky.
O living man behold
your destined hands control
the flowered earth ablaze,
alive, each golden flower unfold.
John McCrady (1911-1968) Rural Symposium, 1964, Acrylic on board
Now see our marching deadThe tyrants too, have fled.
The broken bones and blood
Have melted in the flood.
Clementine Hunter (1886-1988) Untitled, 1980, oil on canvas board
Cinque.O man magnificent.
The gods endowed you well.
Prince of our innocence
The stars move round your head.
You stride the earth to tell
your sons and daughters young
from island, sea, and land-
a continental span-
how men are made of gods
and born to rule the world.
In majesty with monumental hands
you bridge the Universe
and centuries of desert sands.
Bequeath to us your handsome dignity
and lordly noble trust.
George Morland (1763-1804) Execrable Human Traffick, 1789, Oil on canvas
Gods of compassion, rise
In mortal human form.
The splendor of your eyes
Streaks lightening through the storm.
Noah Saterstrom (1974) Road to Shubuta, 2016, Oil on canvas
This is my century-Black synthesis of Time:
The Freudian slip
The Marxian mind
Kierkaardian Leap of Faith
and Du Bois' prophecy: the color line.
These are the comrades of Einstein,
the dawning of another Age,
new symphony of Time.
New liberties arise;from Freedom's flag unfold;
the right to live and be
both stronger and more wise.
Each child, a prophet's eyes;
each place, a priestess stone.
This Beast no man denies
the godly-human throne.
Each generation cries
to touch divinity
and open up the sunlit splitting skies.
Ruth Miller (1949) The Evocation and Capture of Aphrodite, 2014, hand-embroidered wool
I have had a good time singingthe songs of my fathers
the melodies of my mothers
the plaintive minor notes of my grandmothers.
I heard the drums of Africa
and I made the music of Spain.
I gave rythym to the world
and called it syncopation.
All the Calypso brothers
have dance music in my head
and all my beautiful jazzy greats
like old Satchmo,
the Duke, the Count, the Duchess, the King
the Queen, Prince, and Princesses
they were the sons and daughters of royalty
in my dynasty.
I am a black shoeshine boy
made immortal by Barthe
and I am a black mother
running from slavery.
Ernest Crichlow (1914-2005) Underground III,1990, Oil on canvas
Look on my bronzed and black-red-mahogany face
and know me well.
For I am the seed of the earth,
the broken body of the Son of God,
and the Spirit of the Universe.
Drink wine in my memory
and pour water on stones
singing Libation songs.
I came out of the sunand I swam rivers of blood
to touch the moon.
I will not flinch before the holocaust
for I am a deathless soul,
immortal, black, and free.
The MMOA started as a state art association in 1911 and has grown in size and stature. Today the museum collection includes 5800 worksand contains works by notable artists including Andy Warhol, Robert Henri, Georgia O’Keeffe and George Bellows.
The museum and the community are clearly demonstrating a commitment to confronting the legacy of racism in Mississippi and to moving forward to help foster a better present and future. Our hats off to the organization and community.
We hope you enjoyed this edition of OTR with Maria and Stephen.
The Whitney Plantation is not the plantation to visit if you are interested in touring a beautiful antebellum mansion and being regaled with stories of a fabulously wealthy aristocratic southern family. The focus here is just the opposite. The Whitney Plantation tells the stories of enslaved African-Americans who toiled, suffered and died on plantations all across the South, prior to emancipation.
Slave labor powered the Southern economy from the early 1800s until the end of the Civil War (and to some extent beyond, as will see later in the post). In the years just before 1800 there were just under 20,000 enslaved Africans in Louisiana and several hundred enslaved Native Americans. Surprisingly, there were almost as many free people of color (16,000) in Louisiana at this time. When the Civil War commenced in 1860, the situation had dramatically changed. The were slightly over 330,000 enslaved Africans while the census of free people of color was almost unchanged (18,000).
Slave Pen— “Hot Box”
“One night master come in drunk an’ set at de table did his head lollin’ aroun’.I was waitin’ on de table, and he look up an’ see me. I was skeered, an’ dat made him awful mad. He called an overseer an’ tol’ him: ‘Take her out an’ beat some sense in her.’ I began to cry an’ run an’ run in de night; but finally I run back by de quarters an’ heard mammy calling’ me. I went in, an’ right away day come for me. A horse was stand-in’ in front of de house, an’ I was took dat, very night to Richmon’ an’ sold to a speculator ag’in. I never seed my mammy any more.” Delia Garlic, Louisiana Slave*
The WP is one of several plantations that sat along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. This area was called the German Coast as many of the plantation owning families in this area were originally from Germany.
The Big House
The WP was owned by a German family, the Haydels, who owned the plantationfor 110 years. The enslaved individuals on this plantation numbered around 130 adults and children at any one time, the majority of whom were from West Africa.
The enslaved individuals built the plantation for their owners. They cleared all the fields in order to farm sugar cane, rice and indigo. They felled the trees and built the Big House along with all of the outbuildings and their own quarters.
The kitchen pictured above was built in the mid-1800s. All of the cooking for the plantation owners was done in this location away from the Big House. This was common on plantations so as to keep the heat, smoke and smells away from the owners’ living quarters.It is in kitchens such as this one that you will find the origins of what is now Creole food as the kitchen slaves cooked using their African recipes, such as gumbo, couscous and jambalaya. Also, don’t forget that okra, yams and watermelon also were brought from Africa and subsequently grew here in popularity and in abundance.
There were 22 slave cabins at WP. Today seven cabin remain. Entire families or groups of enslaved people lived in this one room (many families were separated as slaves were bought, sold or died from illness.) Multiple people shared a single bed while many of the slaves had to sleep on the floor or wooden pallets. These cabins offered very little protection from the extreme heat of the summer or the cold during the winter months.
The typical workday was from sunrise to sunset — what was commonly known as “can’t see to can’t see”. Children were typically viewed as adults by age ten and accordingly sent to the fields to work along side the adults.
Pictured above and below are the sugar kettles used to boil and reduce the sugar cane to create sugar and molasses.Beginning in October the enslaved individuals worked in shifts around the clock, every day of the week, until all of the sugar cane was cut, ground and refined into sugar and molasses. As there was no electricity, the enslaved individuals worked by candlelight throughout the night. Many enslaved individuals were injured, some by snakes in the fields and others during the grinding and boiling process, and working by candlelight added to the likelihood of injury.
The WP grew two main crops, sugarcane, as mentioned above, and rice. Since these crops are harvested at different times of the year, the enslaved individuals had no down time. When you owned a plantation and treated humans as property – your machinery – it was a most productive environment and quite lucrative. Shameful.
The plantation Overseer was the person responsible for the day to day operation of the plantation. Plantation owners took great pains to avoid the dirty business of managing the enslaved workforce. The Overseer was a free white man who lived on the plantation.
Overseer’s House
The WP also utilized Slave Drivers. The Slave Drivers worked for the Overseer and were enslaved individuals themselves. The Slave Driver was charged with directly supervising the field gangs and was the person that usually administered physical punishment to workers not meeting standards and to runaways who were captured and returned to the plantation. Not surprisingly, Slave Drivers were usually despised by the other enslaved individuals on the plantation(and occasionally found dead in the fields).
“Take that old woman, poor old woman, carry in the peach orchard, and whipped her. You know, just tied her hands this way you know around the peach orchard tree. I remember that just as well – look like to me I can’t – and round the tree, and whipped her. And she couldn’t do nothin but just kick her feet, you know. Just kick her feet. But they just had her clothes off down to her waist you know. Just didn’t have her plum naked, but they had her clothes down to her waist. And every now and then they’d whup her again. And snuff a pipe out on her. Just snuff the pipe out on her.” Laura Smalley*
Considering the horrendous working and living conditions and the brutally violent punishments (torture) that were frequently inflicted upon the enslaved population of this and other plantations along the German Coast, it is not surprising that there were periodic revolts by the enslaved population.
German Coast Uprising Memorial
In 1811, enslaved individuals led by a Slave Driver (Charles Deslondes) from a nearby plantation on the German Coast led a revolt. The rebels marched from plantation to plantation (with the intent of killing the plantation owners) and enlisting more enslaved individuals. They were armed primarily with tools from the plantations and some weapons provide by Marroons. The number of rebels is not known for certain – estimates range from 200 to 500. It was definitely the largest revolt in the history of slavery in the United States.
Not surprisingly, the revolt was short lived. The rebels killed two white people during the revolt. Around 40 rebels were killed. Another 65 rebels were captured and went to trial in New Orleans. Also, not surprisingly, they were all found guilty. The rebels were then transported back to their respective plantations. There, the plantation owners executed and then decapitated the rebels in front of the enslaved population of each plantation. The plantation owners’ finishing touch was to put each head on a pike, where it was left to rot(see the photo above of the German Coast Uprising Memorial).
Antioch (Anti-Yoke) Baptist Church
“I don’t know about the church when they first start….you know….when I was a child, you know, they didn’t have no church you know, in no house, you know, they only had in the trees. Under trees, yes ma’am. Brush arbors. Just like you know you get a big ol’ tree and clean all out from under it and make a [unintelligible] and makes benches on it you know that would church.” Laura Smalley, Texas Slave*
Whitney PlantationStore – courtesy of Whitney Plantation
After emancipation, multiple generations of descendants of some enslaved individuals stayed on at WP as paid workers – living in the same quarters and working the fields until they were replaced by machinery. The plantation owners took advantage of this situation and opened a plantation store which operated similarly to the company stores commonly found in factory and mining towns. This system kept the workers in debt and on the plantation. The cost of food, clothing and medicine was deducted from paychecks – leaving the workers with little pay for their workand no ability to save.The last workers left this plantation in 1975!
“They stayed in debt, you know? You work for — you know, you’re working – whatever you’re working for he control it cause they had one store, that store right there, everybody go up in the one store so he got control of your living.” John Howard(born on the Whitney Plantation in 1961)
“When Mr. King was assassinated, all these stores they had, people had to put black ribbon so they don’t burn them. People said they got burn them stores down. They put black ribbon on all them stores so that they can let you know that they were for Martin Luther King.” Laurent Alexis*
Whitney Plantation Map – courtesy of Whitney Plantation
John Cummings, a successful trial lawyer from New Orleans, purchased the plantation in 1999 and over the next 15 years restored the plantation with his own funds. He opened the WP to the public in December of 2014. In 2019, Mr. Cummings donated the museum to a newly created non-profit organization to be maintained as a museum with a mission to educate the public on the history and long legacy of slavery in the South. Please find a link below which provides a profile of Mr. Cummings and his passion for this project.
WP gives insight into some of the worst years in the history of the United States. It also unflinchingly provides a view into the life of enslaved individuals and thus unavoidably, the cruelty of the plantation owners and overseers. The WP presents all of this in a factual and objective manner – however, we found it hard to keep our emotions in check as we toured the plantation and gained a deeper understanding of what life was like as an enslaved individual.
We think the Whitney Plantation is a must visit in order to understand slavery and learn more about the human beings – the people– who were treated as expendable property by their owners. The WP is a short drive from New Orleans. Additionally, there is quite a bit more to see and experience that we have not covered – The Wall of Honor, Field of Angels and the sculptures – to cite a few. If you are going to be anywhere in the vicinity of New Orleans or Baton Rouge – please visit the plantation.
*Transcripts from recorded interviews with former enslaved individuals. The interviews were conducted as part of a Works Progress Administration project. Over 2000 former enslaved individuals were interviewed as part of this project.
ON THE ROAD with Maria + Stephen 