America’s first slave museum
The Whitney Plantation is the first and only museum in the United States focused on slavery. It was envisioned by a self-described “rich white boy.” John Cummings amassed his fortune as a lawyer and real-estate magnate in New Orleans. He spent 15 years and more than $8 million to create a unique—some might say eccentric—museum for how he personally thought slavery should be presented. Because he used no outside funds, Cummings neither had to appease any board members nor make a single compromise.
The museum was created with unprecedented documentation, including detailed records of the slaves from the original 1721 plantation, listing them by name, complexion of skin, skill sets, and countries of origin, plus an eight-volume study of the grounds conducted by a previous owner, along with nearly 4000 oral histories of Louisiana slaves compiled by the WPA in the 1930s.
Info
Address 5099 Louisiana Highway 18, Wallace, LA 70049, +1 225.265.3300 www.whitneyplantation.com | Hours Wed–Mon 9:30am–4:30pm| Tip If you want a more sanitized tour of plantations, the Whitney is not far from Old Highway 18 in Vacherie, LA, where you’ll find Oak Alley, the most-visited plantation on the planet and a location for more than 40 movies and Beyoncé videos; the Laura Plantation, with a rich history and run by four generations of women; or the recently opened for tours Evergreen Plantation, which served as Don Johnson’s home in the movie Django Unchained.
The grounds are centered upon the Big House, a Creole main building with 11 outbuildings including the original kitchen, believed to be the oldest detached kitchen in Louisiana (the kitchen was always designed away from the house in case of fire); a storage shed; an overseer’s house; a mule barn; and a plantation store. Cummings also bought and reassembled 20 slave quarters on the premises.
Most moving are the sculpture exhibits. One is dedicated to the largest slave revolt in American history. In 1811, just a few miles from the Whitney Plantation, 125 or more slaves rebelled. They were quickly overpowered, with nearly 100 killed during the uprising or executed afterwards. As a warning to other slaves, many were decapitated, their heads placed on spikes. Cummings commissioned Woodrow Nash to make 60 ceramic heads, which are set atop stainless-steel rods.
While largely hailed, Cummings has had to defend the Whitney Plantation from some criticism. He has been quoted as saying, “It is disturbing. But you know what else? It happened.”
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