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INFORMATION to USERS This Manuscript Has INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margin^ andimproper alignment can adversely afreet reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor. Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE SLAVES' STORY: INTERPRETING NINETEENTH-CENTURY SLAVE HISTORY AT SHIRLEY PLANTATION by Jennifer Page Ley A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the University of Delaware in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Art in the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture Spring 1995 Copyright 1995 Jennifer Page Ley All Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 1375147 UMI Microform 1375147 Copyright 1995, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE SLAVES' STORY: INTERPRETING NINETEENTH-CENTURY SLAVE HISTORY AT SHIRLEY PLANTATION by Jennifer Page Ley Approved: Pauline K. Eversmann Professor in charge of thesis on behalf of the Advisory Committee Approved: Jamefe Curtis, Fhd. Chairman of the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture Approved: _________________ r\t"\---- Carol E. Hoffeckeapi/^h.D. Associate Provosr for Graduate Studies Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are many people and institutions to whom I owe a debt of gratitude for their help and support throughout this project. Without them, this thesis would never have become a reality. The owners and guides of Shirley Plantation deserve tremendous thanks for their encouragement and motivation, and Charles Carter in particular is responsible for inspiring me through his abiding love, and endless knowledge, of his home. I would like to also thank the library staff at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, in particular Gail Greve, who graciously endured wild goose chases and my incessant questions. At Winterthur, my advisor Pauline Eversmann deserves the credit for keeping me focused on this project, and for keeping me smiling throughout it. She will never know how much her support meant to me. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. This thesis is dedicated to my parents, without whom nothing in my life would have been possible, and whose support and love mean everything to me. Thank you. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ......................................... vi ABSTRACT .............................................. vii INTRODUCTION ......................... 1 THE S L A V E S ................ 14 INTERPRETING THE STORY ............................... 51 CONCLUSION ............................................. 66 APPENDIX: 1858 LIST OF SLAVES ........................... 68 NOTES ................................................... 70 BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................... 78 v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Shirley Plantation, front view .............. 2 Figure 2: Shirley Plantation and courtyard ........... 2 Figure 3: M ap of p l a n t a t i o n ........................... 10 Figure 4: Slave cabin, front view ................. 27 Figure 5: Slave cabin, side v i e w ................. 27 Figure 6: Plan of c a b i n ............................... 29 Figure 7: Runaway slave advertisement ............... 37 Figure 8: Army b r o g u e ................................. 40 Figure 9: Kitchen, exterior .......................... 58 Figure 10: Kitchen, interior .......................... 58 Figure 11: Map of walking t o u r ......................... 63 vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT This thesis seeks to examine the material lives of the slaves at Shirley Plantation, Charles City County, Virginia during the years 1815-1865, when Hill Carter owned the plantation and its slaves. The purpose of the research is to develop an interpretive plan that will incorporate information regarding slave life at Shirley into the current tour given to the plantation's visitors. In order to best complete this thesis, I am utilizing a variety of resources. Primary documents generated by Hill Carter in the running of the plantation provide the bulk of information, but are supported by Shirley's extant slave landscape and by secondary sources relating to slavery in Tidewater Virginia. The interpretive plan grows out of a study both of interpretation theory and practice, and of programs about slavery run by various museums in Virginia. The slaves themselves, rather than their owner Hill Carter, are the main focus of both the research and the interpretive plan. The main purpose of secondary sources is to gather information about aspects of slave vii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. viii life that are only partially revealed in Hill's documents. The current house tour at Shirley can be easily modified to integrate the black populace of the plantation, and will be the basis for the interpretive plan laid out in this thesis. While these house tour modifications will be the focus of my discussion, more ambitious programs of interpretation will be suggested as well. There is an entire population that has been neglected in both museums and in classrooms for too long, and interpretations of historic sites need to adapt in order to include that population. This thesis will explore the African-American past of Shirley Plantation and will prepare Shirley's guides to answer the questions of an increasingly curious audience. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. I. INTRODUCTION Shirley Plantation, located on the James River in Virginia, has been open since 1952 as a historic house museum privately operated by descendants of wealthy Virginian Robert "King" Carter (Figures 1 and 2). In the nineteenth century, the plantation was owned by Hill Carter, an active and well-known participant in Virginia politics and society. This thesis explores the lives of the unknown population at Shirley while Hill was in residence, the Carter's slaves, and seeks ways in which to incorporate the story of those lives into the overall history of the property. As a historic house museum, Shirley's history and the interpretation of that history is intimately linked to that of historic houses in general. Therefore any discussion of Shirley must be prefaced by an examination of the issues and purposes of historic house museums in general. Why is it necessary to save and to interpret these houses? Why do people visit, and what do they hope to learn while they are there? Finding the answers to these questions and others is crucial to any understanding of the importance of historic houses in general, and of Shirley Plantation in particular in today's society. 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 Figure l Shirley Plantation. Front view of mansion. Figure 2 Shirley Plantation. Rear view of mansion, with surrounding courtyard. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 3 Historic house museums have been a part of the American landscape since 1856, when a patriotic ladies' association banded together to save Mount Vernon. The mission of those women was to preserve the home of George Washington exactly the way it had been when he was alive, in order to present an eternal "tribute to public integrity and private virtue."1 Historic houses can be preserved, as was Mount Vernon, as documentary sites focusing on a specific person
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