Representations of Slavery: Race and Ideology in Southern Plantation Museums

by Jennifer L. Eichstedt, Stephen Small

How is slavery presented at the public and private plantation museums in the American South, almost 150 years after the Civil War? Jennifer L. Eichstedt and Stephen Small investigated this question in Virginia, Georgia, and Louisiana by touring more than one hundred plantation museums; twenty locations organized and run by African Americans; and eighty general history sites. Their findings indicate that the experience and legacy of slavery is still inadequately presented within the larger discourse surrounding race, racism, and national identity.

The vast majority of slavery sites construct narratives of history that valorize a white elite of the pre-emancipation South and trivialize the experience of slavery for both enslaved people and their enslavers. Through systematic analysis of richly textured data, the authors of Representations of Slavery have developed a typology of primary representational/discursive strategies used to discuss slavery and the enslaved. They clearly demonstrate how these strategies are linked to representations and practices in the larger social and political arenas.

Eichstedt and Small found counter narratives at sites organized and staffed by African Americans, and a small number of white-organized sites have made efforts to incorporate African American experiences of slavery as part of their presentations. But the predominant framework of the “white-centric exhibition narrative” persists, and the authors draw from contemporary literature on racialization, museums, cultural studies, and collective memory to make a case for public debate and intervention.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Museums, American History, Civil War, Sociology, Museology

312 pages, Hardcover

First published September 17, 2002

Reviews

[Deena · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was both fascinating and disheartening. I can't say I'm surprised by the findings, though. We as a society have GOT to get better about being inclusive in our historical narratives. Very well written and researched. I'd love to see a revised edition. 11 years can sometimes make a HUGE difference in how information is presented to the public.

[Brianna Melick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Discussing complex topics is an everyday struggle for anyone in the history, public history, and museum careers. But knowing that the research has been done to continue discussing the history is the best way to offer comfort to those staff. I read this predominantly for a class on House Museums in grad school; however, since I work at a plantation museum that is mentioned briefly in this book, I wanted to continue the book and read the chapters that were not required reading. While it was highly beneficial for me to read this book, as it will be for other professionals, please remember that it was written in 2002.

During the years 1998 up to 2002, Professors Eichstedt and Small worked with several graduate students to conduct the research exposed in this book. I went on tours and visited these museums to learn more about how museums discussed their history of free and enslaved people. As they say in the book, things changed over the years they conducted research, and it being 2023, I can say that this has changed again for many of the museums discussed. I highly encourage everyone to read this book as it still discusses topics that are prevalent in the world today. However, I would be very interested in seeing someone, and even myself, going to these sites to compare the changes, if any, over the last almost 21 years.

[Adrienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This work, although short, is stunning in breadth and does not lack for concrete evidence in support of the authors’ conclusions. The ways in which slavery is still being portrayed in Southern Plantation Museums reflects, in many ways, the same indignities and inhumanities of slavery itself. These narratives both erase the presence and importance of African Americans while elevating white wealth, all the while reinforcing the American ideals of work ethic and individualism. The authors never neglect to remind readers that these pervasive ideologies support ongoing oppression of African Americans by denying them agency in their own lived experiences. These ideologies also attempt to cleanse the collective conscience of white Americans by emphasizing their hardships in relation to those experienced by blacks. Usurping the slave narrative, subverting it or ignoring it may not be done with intentional malice—but its effects are still felt, and here they have been clearly documented.

[Hillary Borders · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for Public History Seminar

[J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

An academic text that is not dry or boring. You will be entranced and appalled at how plantation museums continue the practice of annihilation of the enslaved person experience.

[Rachel]

Very informative book that I will take to heart while giving tours.

[Donnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that deals with the collective memory of Slavery as it is expressed through plantation museums. It was incredibly mind expanding.

[20hrsinamerica · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read to understand, historically and empirically, the continuing presence of racism and the washing away of America's greatest sin.