It is seldom that I get to scout a site before I perform a sleepover. Last year Jerome Bias, our lead cook for the living historian program, and I visited Historic Arkansas Museum in Little Rock, Arkansas. We had just participated in a program titled Behind the Big House at Lakeport Plantation in Chicot County, Arkansas. On that visit, Jerome and I vowed that we would return. Little did we know that our sponsor, the Arkansas Humanities Council was already making plans to make that visit a reality.

Jerome and my first two excursions into Arkansas were to Historic Washington State Park in Washington and Lakeport Plantation in Lake Village. This site, Historic Arkansas Museum would be our third. All these trips were made possible by the Arkansas Humanities Council.

This trip did not come without a scare. Jerome called me two days before the trip stating that he may have travel restrictions due to a touch of the flu. My mind went into overdrive in thinking of how we could overcome this hardship. My first instinct was to call Marvin Alonzo Greer, formerly employed at Colonial Williamsburg, Marvin is now employed at a museum in St. Louis, Missouri. Marvin assured me that he could make the 6-hour drive, if necessary. Luckily, Jerome’s fever subsided, and he was able to make the trip. As an extra precaution, Jerome summoned his brother and nephew who drove in from Fort Worth, Texas to assist him with the cooking.

We also had the assistance of Joseph Brajcki who assisted us with the cooking at Lakeview Plantation. Joseph’s assistance also came in handy when it was discovered that on our travel day that due to a mechanical problem with Jerome’s airplane out of Raleigh, NC, he would not get to Little Rock until 5:00 pm and not 11:00 am with me, as originally scheduled. The potential problems with the reality of both of us not arriving together as planned only tend to csacade. Joseph mitigated the threat of delay by taking on the role of shopping for the food that we would cook on an open fire and feed 50 people.

My role in all of this would be washing the collard greens and dishes as necessary. I took the collard greens washing seriously because there was a previous occasion when that was not performed properly and it reflected poorly on the Slave Dwelling Project. Despite the challenges, we got the collard greens, sweet potatoes, beans and cornbread prepared in a timely manner. Having the inside knowledge that Jerome almost did not make the trip, made me pay more attention to what is necessary to cook a full meal on an open fire for a multitude of people. I gave more thought to how those who enslaved people had a propensity to have large gatherings. Those large gatherings would multiply the responsibilities of the enslaved cooks and those visitors usually stayed for a spell.

The Arkansas Humanities Council and the Arkansas Historic Museum planned this program well.

Friday, March 23 | 5:30 -7:30 p.m.
Historic Arkansas Museum Grounds and Brownlee Kitchen & Slave Quarters

Jerome Bias will prepare a sampling of foods based on enslaved diets using the hearth in the Brownlee Kitchen & Slave Quarters
• Historic Arkansas Museum’s Living History staff will portray characters based on primary source research into the lives of enslaved people who lived and worked on the present Museum property

• Joseph McGill will prepare to sleep in the Brownlee Kitchen & Slave Quarters. Up to 50 people will be permitted to sleep/camp on the Museum grounds to gain a better understanding of life behind the “big house.”
During the meal, a diverse audience of about fifty people were treated to a beautiful rendition of three female living historians who are all employed at the Historic Arkansas Museum on a part-time basis.

With the meal completed, the crowd started to disperse. We expected that there would be about fifteen of us sleeping at the site. Turned out only five of us spent the night. The darkness made it more apparent of how this cluster of historic buildings was nestled within the capital city of Little Rock, Arkansas. The noise of vehicles became more prominent, the lights of the high-rise buildings were beacons of development. The scene was reminiscent of the time we spent a night in a tent on the grounds of the County Court House in Leesburg, Virginia. Despite that, the conversation before the sleepover was still powerful. The conversation fluctuated between the modern day criminal justice system and interpreting slavery at antebellum sites. For the sleepover, two of us retreated to the kitchen building and three people had their own separate tent.

The Behind the Big House program has always included lectures on the final day. This year the Arkansas Humanities Council did not disappoint.

Saturday, March 24 | 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Behind the Big House Program, Ottenheimer Theater
9:30 a.m. Introduction
Rachel Patton, Preserve Arkansas
Carla Coleman, Black History Commission of Arkansas
Swannee Bennett, Historic Arkansas Museum
9:50 a.m. Reconciling Slavery: Tourism, Race, & Difficult Pasts in the U.S. South
Dr. Jodi Skipper, University of Mississippi
10:50-11:00 a.m. BREAK
11:00 a.m. “Getting into Character”: Research and Writing for Living History
Aisha Credit and Felicia Richardson, Historic Arkansas Museum
12:00 p.m. “If these things could talk”: Objects crafted by enslaved Arkansans from Historic Arkansas Museum’s Arkansas Made collection
Hattie Felton, Victoria Chandler, and Caroline Millar, Historic Arkansas Museum

12:30 p.m. Lunch, HAM Restaurant
Pre-ordered boxed lunches will be delivered.
1:30 p.m. Hearth, Kettle, Spoon, and Larder: How the Tasks and Tools of an Enslaved Cook Give us a Window into who she was as a Persongram
Jerome Bias, Stagville State Historic Site, North Carolina
2:30 p.m. Urban Archeology and the Restoration of the Brownlee Kitchen and Enslaved Quarters
Dr. Jodi Barnes, Station Archeologist, University of Arkansas at Monticello
3:20-3:30 p.m. BREAK
3:30 p.m. The Slave Dwelling Project, Historic Preservation, and What Arkansas Can Learn from this Project
Joseph McGill, The Slave Dwelling Project

Through all of the successes of this trip to Arkansas, one thing worried me. Here is a copy of my Facebook post.

True Story

This past weekend, I participated in a program at the Historic Arkansas Music in Little Rock, Arkansas titled Behind the Big House. During the program, I was one of many of the presenters who disseminated information through lectures and storytelling about our enslaved Ancestors. The audience was informed of enslaved cooks and characters who were enslaved in urban settings. We were all feeling good about our presentations, especially me because I batted clean up. And then, I was humbled. A senior African American female reminded me that collectively, the information that we disseminated did not contain enough information about the hardships of slavery.

The moral of this story is: If you put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig or If you pull a gold nugget out of a pile of s%#t, it’s still a pile of s%#t.

Conclusion

The method(s) of disseminating the history of the enslaved Ancestors as employed by the Slave Dwelling Project is in its early stage of implementation, we welcome and expect honest and candid feedback. One thing I’ve learned in this short journey in honoring the enslaved Ancestors is that: “The story should be the same, no matter who is in your audience.”…………..Me (Joseph McGill, Jr.)

Behind the Big House
By Callie Williams
March 23-24, 2018
Historic Arkansas Museum, Little Rock, Arkansas

I have to admit, the opportunity to spend the night, camp-out style, on the grounds of the Historic Arkansas Museum was a large part of my decision to stay the night and experience the Slave Dwelling Project of Mr. Joseph McGill in action. You just don’t get the opportunity to sleep on the grounds of a museum very often, if ever. As the night progressed and those who elected to sleep in their own beds for the night slowly left after the remains of the evening meal, expertly cooked and presented by Mr. Jerome Bias, was cleaned up and put away; it was clear that only a few people remained to stay the night in the open yard behind the restored Brownlee House, near the reconstructed Kitchen and Slave Quarter structure. A small circle developed and the conversation ranged from modern-day issues associated with the continued legacy of slavery, to politics, to the need to continue the press for education related to the history and legacy of slavery at sites across the country. The night quickly slipped away and it was soon time to head to bed. Luckily, the weather was perfect and the museum had set up several replica civil-war era tents for those who chose to stay the night. As Joseph McGill prepared to sleep in the dwelling space attached to the reconstructed kitchen space, we all settled in for the night.

I can’t say it was a comfortable sleep, and it wasn’t a true recreation of any historic moment on my part. I had a fairly new sleeping bag, folding cot, blanket, and of course my smartphone – because recording and posting images of my adventure was imperative. However, deep in the night, as the sounds of the city continued to roll through the museum grounds, I realized just how different this site would have been during the 1800s and just how pervasive this “peculiar” institution of slavery was in the landscape, the built environment, and in the mindset of the population.

By morning, after a relatively quiet sleep, it was time to find breakfast and get ready for the day’s conference presentations. The night was over, but the discussions and the experience will continue to be in my thoughts for a long time to come. Agency, personality, and humanity are all terms that would not necessarily be of main focus when discussing the plight of enslaved peoples in Little Rock during the early 19th century. However, during the Behind the Big House program and during the cooking demonstration and meal provided by Jerome Bias, these are just the topics and terms that were prominent in every discussion and presentation. While forced to endure the cruel institution of slavery, it is important to understand that we must not forget that each of these people were just that, people; with individual wants and needs, and individual skills and personalities. The broad historical narrative and the known statistics of slavery in Arkansas are important as context, but the focus on individuality and personality of the enslaved during the presentations was an excellent perspective that is just as important.

Ibrahim Bias

Hello, I am in the sixth grade and my father took me to Slave Dwelling Project.

Right before Spring Break, I went to a former slave plantation. It was really fun and I learned a lot of new things like the enslaved Africans actually had their own lives. They also sold and traded things. They would be lucky to even step foot out of the owner’s property.

While I was there, I helped cook a slave traditional dinner for over 60 people, it was very hard. The heat was unbearable in the kitchen and we had to come outside more than 4 times.

I got to build a fire and I even slept there. There were living historians and I made new friends. That was one of the best days of my life. I say this place really Matters.

Elijah Bias

Hello

I spent the night in the Slave Dwelling in Little Rock, Arkansas. This was a real experience. It took slavery from an abstract experience that was just talked about and made it real. Looking up at the ceiling and thinking of all the things that took place there, made me more humble about the slave experience and history. I thought I knew history but this changed my thoughts.

Being in the same space as my ancestors and thinking about the things in the past and being able to reach out and touch them, makes a big difference. Staying in the dwelling gave me time to absorb the space and not just be there for a couple of minutes. I was able to look out of the windows, feel how drafty they were, and imagine what a slave would be thinking as they laid down for the night after a day’s work and then to wake in the early morning to the cool breeze. It was as if my mind was transported to the past and I was there.

This experience also makes me believe that the slave dwellings need to be preserved. The preservation needs to be done so that we do not forget this part of the American past. The slaves were not just a people in bondage they were human beings. They had complex lives and experiences. My being in this space made me realize that slaves had feelings and lives separate from their slave masters. Keep places such, as this is a celebration of the people that lived in these places and that are worth preserving.

This experience will last me a lifetime. As I have lived I have experienced many things, but this is one that I will cherish for all time. I believe that everyone needs to experience the past up close and think about what has happened and the future.
# this place matters

Joseph Brajcki

Sleeping among the ghosts of slavery is no joke. Last year’s Behind the Big House at Lakeport Plantation was my first, and it was a restless night of unease and half sleep. The wind blew up from the Mississippi River with such force I was sure I’d be blown from my tent. I found myself wishing that I’d chosen to sleep on the kitchen floor after all. I tossed and turned. Why am I here? Who would choose to do this thing?

It’s the actual physicality of the experience that breaks open a sense for the reality of our country’s past. Books, histories and, narratives are one thing, being there with all your senses is another. This idea was made more real as I helped cook among the fire and wind, crouching among the pots, straining my back, getting fire and sunburned.

This year’s event at the Historic Arkansas Museum was more intense. I didn’t sleep on the grounds because the day wore me out too much, and my own cozy bed was only a few blocks away. There was a kind of euphoria that I always get from cooking, but it was also nothing like my normal life–all my modern conveniences and even my normal clothes were hidden away. Only one day of adjacency to the life of enslaved people cooking in a kitchen, and I had to go sleep in my own bed. The kitchen was so hot and smokey on a 68-degree day, I found myself wondering how people did it daily in the middle of an Arkansas summer. I sought escape and took my chopping chores to the yard where I could breathe without my nose running and see without my eyes watering. Would those who cooked here have had such a choice?

There was this woman who came and introduced herself as Tavia. I enjoyed chatting with her. Throughout the day she’d appear and sweep the floor or whisk away a pile of sweet potato peelings, and then she’d be gone again. She did it in this kind of way where you didn’t even really notice she was there until you noticed a small part of your chores had been lifted. I liked her. Later during the dinner, she told her story more fully and I realized she actually lived here right on the site. The hairs on my arms stood up as I understood that even from the grave Tavia had done work to improve my life.

I don’t really know how to reconcile our American slaving past. There’s no excuse for it. There’s no way to make up for it. There’s no way to come to a reckoning without actually grappling with the reality and truth of our past. Empathy is a start. Using your physical senses to brush up against reality is a start. Calling up the ghosts is a start. Remorse is a start. Using your voice, resources, privilege, money, mind, and spirit to pursue some sense of truth, awareness, and justice is a start.