One Step Forward

I have no qualms with Author William Faulkner, and I have no desire to besmirch his name. I’ve never read any of his books. I’m interested in him because, he lived at Rowan Oak in Oxford, Mississippi until he died in 1962. Who knows what would have happened to that house had he not purchased it in 1930? I visit Rowan Oak not because of its architectural significance or for the fame of William Faulkner, but because the site has an extant kitchen that was also used to house enslaved people when the house was built in 1844 by Robert Sheegog, a planter from Tennessee. See, I’m into the vernacular architecture, the places where the enslaved Ancestors built and lived.

Since 2011, the Slave Dwelling Project has been working with the University of Mississippi. They own Rowan Oak. Our relationship did not start well. The initial verbal commitment to sleep in the kitchen at Rowan Oak turned into a written denial. Turned out that they were not buying what the Slave Dwelling Project was selling at that time. The desire to stay within the comfort zone of only interpreting William Faulkner at the site was prevalent.

In 2010, I met Dr. Jodi Skipper when she was at the University of South Carolina. She visited me at the slave dwellings on Morris Street in Anderson, SC. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Skipper was newly employed at the University of Mississippi and her interest in the Slave Dwelling Project continued. She would be instrumental in making the sleepover at Rowan Oak happen.

Also instrumental in making the sleepover at Rowan Oak happen was Dr. Carolyn Freiwald, also a professor at the University of Mississippi. Dr. Freiwald is an archaeologist, and I get along well with archaeologists.

In 2018, the Slave Dwelling Project had its first sleepover at Rowan Oak. It went well. I knew then that a sleepover the second year was possible. 

So, if ever you want to know about slavery in North Mississippi, attend the lecture of Dr. Max Grivno titled Slavery in North Version. If ever you want to apply the term “work camp” to the environment of which the enslaved toiled, you can apply it to slavery in Northern Mississippi. The cotton planters were speculating and getting rich so quickly that exploiting the land and moving on was the mindset. Investing in the built environment on these sites was less of a priority for these planters. They used slave labor like they used the land, exhaustingly. In 1860 only Mississippi and South Carolina had enslaved populations that were greater than that of Whites. These were the first two states to secede from the Union. 

Different this year, I would present at Holly Springs High School. All my fears and stereotypes of presenting to a group of high school students who would much rather be somewhere else were proven wrong. The students were attentive and asked relevant questions in the end. Some expressed interest in hanging out with us at Rowan Oak.

Many institutions of higher learning owe their existence to the institution of slavery. The Slave Dwelling Project has spent nights in slave dwellings or the site of where they once stood on the campuses of Sweet Briar, Roanoke, Clemson, Furman, College of Charleston and the University of Virginia. Rowan Oak is owned by the University of Mississippi and this would be the second sleepover, a first for a second stay at an institution of higher learning.

For some reason, I was convinced that the conversation at Rowan Oak was going to be conducted around a campfire. I was reminded that there wasn’t fire last year and there would not be one this year. Despite that and after a catered meal, the conversation proceeded swimmingly. Dr. Anne Twitty did a beautiful job of moderating the conversation.

The buzz the following rainy morning was that we would be doing a sleepover again at Rowan Oak in 2020. This upcoming one will be bigger, better and give community members the opportunity to engage in the conversation and sleepover, which may require that we do two nights instead of one. Maybe involving the Oxford High School kids and their chaperones could be a good group to involve. Or maybe some of the folks who contacted me with interest prior to the sleepover will be good candidates. Even more interesting would be engaging the descendants of those who were enslaved at Rowan Oak. I can imagine an interesting dialogue between those who are interested in the site as it pertains to William Faulkner and those who are interested in the stories of those who were enslaved on the property.

Changing the Narrative, One Slave Dwelling at a Time

 

Laura Wilson
PhD student
Department of English, University of Mississippi
Slave Dwelling Project at Rowan Oak – Wednesday 3 April 2019
Laura Wilson

Joseph McGill’s stated intention for his self-founded labor of love The Slave Dwelling Project is to “Change the narrative, one slave dwelling at a time.” In Oxford Mississippi, we’ve all become pretty familiar with the narrative of William Faulkner, who lived at Rowan Oak, a large property just off the main courthouse square for almost forty years. Scholars and fans alike flock to Oxford to pay homage to this 20th century Southern literary figure, while local high schools consider him a mainstay on their English/Mississippi History syllabi.

Less is known of the owners prior to Faulkner’s purchase in 1930 however – the Baileys (for whom the woods surrounding the property is still named) and further back, Robert Sheegog, a wealthy planter who used the house as his urban residence. Thanks to the work of the University of Mississippi Slavery Research Group and Joseph McGill however, we now have evidence that Sheegog kept at least nine enslaved individuals in Oxford between 1850 and 1860, and even hired some of this forced labor out to build the University. Although it’s not yet fully known where these enslaved peoples might have lived during Sheegog’s time, an extant structure on the property dates to Sheegog’s time and may have been used for sleeping quarters or as a kitchen.

As an avid scholar of Faulkner who made my own pilgrimage to Mississippi – moving from Oxford, England to continue studying the author as part of my PhD – I jumped at the chance to spend the night on the Rowan Oak grounds for the Slave Dwelling Project sleepover. I’d actually first learned about the project when McGill came to visit our University this time last year, and gave an evocative talk on what his important work attempts to do, including a particularly though-provoking re-enactment of the experience he had visiting a historical slave auction block; McGill says this is one of his most powerful memories so far, and it is easy to see why. I’ve since followed The Slave Dwelling Project quite regularly online, as well as watched McGill’s Tedx talk, and promoted it to a number of my friends.

Despite my admiration for Faulkner, and the current context for Rowan Oak as representative of the author’s home, I also recognize that what is most important about McGill’s project is that it pushes museums and heritage sites to include the less well-documented, or less spoken about histories of the other lives that might have inhabited these places, and other histories that have gone untold – I’m well aware that the presence of Faulkner often looms over the town here, crowding out other narratives such as these, so this is something I was mindful of going into the Project. Furthermore, as my own research has grown under the guidance of supportive faculty within the University of Mississippi English department, I have become much more interested in African American literature contemporaneous with the time that Faulkner was writing – my dissertation looks at the environment and Southern soil in early twentieth century texts – so for me, the chance to become intimate with the dirt floor of a dwelling for enslaved peoples provided a hands-on chance to get up close with my current project, which is not always the case in a book-heavy discipline like English where most of my nights are spent in the library. As many of the other participants rightly put it, we came to the event because this was a “once in a lifetime” opportunity.

Our evening at Rowan Oak started off with a tour guided by Dr. Carolyn Freiwald from the University Anthropology department, who talked us through some of the new information that the UMSRG has discovered about Sheegog and the structures both standing, and perhaps still buried underground at this site on Old Taylor Road. Dr. Anne Twitty supplemented this with her own archival research. Following this informative walk around the grounds, we were treated to a fine dinner from Taylor Grocery including pulled pork, beans, and traditional sweet tea, as we convened in a circle of chairs around some ambient solar torches. McGill and Twitty facilitated deep and meaningful conversation about how to make history engaging and include slavery in our knowledge of the past. Undergraduate students from History classes at the University spoke about what they had (or hadn’t) learned about the peculiar institution in school, and we discussed how to overcome willful ignorance of those who buy into a certain version of events. Both Dr. Jodi Skipper and local heritage tourism guide Rhondalyn Peairs also gave compelling accounts of how to incorporate public interest into disseminating new interpretations of the past.

It soon grew dark as the conversation kept flowing until around 930 or so, when we retired to the cabin structure to contemplate the evening and set up our bedding. The particular building we slept in on the Rowan Oak property is divided into two sides – one brick floored and the other just dirt – I chose the more earthy area as a way to feel more connected to an authentic experience. It’s strange to lay out a camping pad and sleeping bag on tarpaulin and still call it authentic though – as you lay awake in the dwelling in four top layers, cozy socks, and a blanket atop the sleeping bag cocoon you’ve made for yourself, it’s hard not to evoke the surreal understanding that in reality this room could have been filled with triple the amount of people, with no sheet to separate you from the ground, and who’s to say what kind of clothing/covering? What’s more we’d come to bed following a substantial meal, and could “wind down” for the evening by chatting among each other or even checking our smartphones. As dogs (possibly coyotes) bayed in the distance at one point during my fitful sleep, which came in a couple of two-hour spurts, I was both attuned to imagining what it must have been like to have been an enslaved individual and yet completely alienated from understanding this kind of circumstance. How could it be possible to live this way? To survive this way? When the rain broke in the morning, we were all cheered by the knowledge of our cars nearby and the home comforts we were returning to – but for the enslaved people on Sheegog’s land, this would have been their day-to-day reality, come rain or come shine.

After allowing the moving experience I’d had to percolate for a few days, I produced a write-up about the sleepover for our main town news outlet that was published online the following week. During the conversation at the Project we’d talked about how to handle history in the social media age we now find ourselves living in, so it was fascinating to see the kind of dialogue that my article provoked when it was publicized on facebook.

While there were a number of positive remarks about the importance of pursuing this kind of research, many other readers still unfortunately suggested that we just “get over it” and let the past stay in the past – all the while clinging to their own Lost Cause ideologies. I know we have a large battle to fight in the face of certain hegemonic belief systems, but the work of people like Joseph McGill and the UMSRG provides tangible evidence that we can then incorporate into what public history chooses to remember.

Following the Slave Dwelling Project at Rowan Oak/The Sheegog Place I was also fortunate enough to visit McGill at his next stop in Holly Springs, Mississippi for the eighth annual “Behind the Big House Tour,” which aims to tell the tales of the places and people who were purposely kept in the background of these residences, but whose enslaved labor most supported the Big House livelihoods. “Behind the Big House” is a way to include these stories into the more traditional Pilgrimage held in the town each year, which draws visitors to tour these remaining antebellum structures, but without really providing the full picture. Here, McGill spent the night at Hugh Craft House and gave an informative talk about the building where he would be sleeping; we were also able to learn more information about the life of an enslaved laundress from interpreter Tammy Gibson. The work of local bricklayer and clay artist Dale DeBerry during this event was also of extreme interest to me, given my current focus on soil and African American architecture. DeBerry talked at length about brick patterns, skills, and techniques, chiming with the work of McGill, who tries to seek out traces of the fingerprints of laborers in every brick structure he visits. As McGill so memorably put it during our night at Rowan Oak, when he finds such residual markings in the walls, it’s like “a hand reaching out” from the past. If we refuse to take hold of these hands, to embrace a difficult past, then we’re ignoring a key part of the history of United States capitalism, and disavowing the forced labor and heavy lifting, not to mention the knowledge and craftsmanship that the enslaved individuals brought to this country for over two centuries.

At our Rowan Oak event, McGill, Peairs, and Skipper had all spoken about the repeated trauma that slavery evokes, and the uncomfortability that many feel discussing it. But being uncomfortable in conversation, being uncomfortable for one night on the floor of a building, being uncomfortable with the history of a place you otherwise hold dear, is in my mind, entirely worth it, if it encourages us to remember the enslaved, and add their voices to our narrative, one dwelling at a time.

Laura also wrote a story about her experience that was published in a local publication.

Two Steps Back

Behind the Big House, 2019 did not start out well. Day one with 150 scheduled school children was canceled because of rain. Not good for the organizers, but it gave me an opportunity to seek out some wi-fi and get some Slave Dwelling Project work done. The coffee shop in Holly Springs served that purpose. In order to indulge in wi-fi and drink your coffee there, you sit at antique tables and chairs that are for sale, an interesting concept, but it served the purpose.

Our host, Chelius Carter and Preserve Marshall County and Holly Springs had two slave dwellings scheduled for this year, Burton Place and his residence the Hugh Craft House. The world-famous Michael Twitty returned for the fourth consecutive year. Two people committed to spending the night, so I designated Friday, April 5 as that date. Tammy Gibson came in from Chicago for the third consecutive year to play the role of an enslaved washerwoman. The local brick makers were there. A descendant of the enslaved at Burton Place was there. Through Dr. Jodi Skipper and Dr. Carolyn Friewald, again students from the University of Mississippi were volunteers throughout the event.

The opening reception on Thursday night was well attended with a diverse audience despite all of the rain that Mother Nature unleashed throughout the day.

Mother nature smiled on us on Friday. The sessions with the kids on Friday coming through the space of the slave dwelling at the Hugh Craft House was routine. Having your living quarters above a smokehouse did not sound appealing to most of the students. The fact that census takers did not find it necessary to give the enslaved people names on a government document also resonated with the kids. It gave them proof that slavery was an institution sanctioned by the United States government.

David Person, the current owner of Burton Place, and whose slave dwelling was on display this year, had a gathering at his beautiful home on Friday night. At the gathering, I conversed with some interesting people. One senior White gentleman expressed that there are those who would much rather have slave dwellings go away, while in the next breath defended keeping Confederate monuments where they now stand. One homeowner, whose antebellum home was new to the Pilgrimage tour expressed that, because the house was built by a lawyer, he would not have owned slaves. So, there you have a sampling of the people who support the Holly Springs Pilgrimage, which brings me to this point.

For the past seven years, the Holly Springs Garden Club had their headquarters in the public library which is located across the road from the Hugh Craft House, the home of our host Chelius Carter. That afforded anyone buying a ticket there to walk across the street and have access to the slave dwelling and all the associated activities, Tammy Gibson, Michael Twitty, etc. I jumped to the conclusion that it was moved because that was a further attempt by the Garden Club to disassociate themselves from the Behind the Big House Tour. I found out later from a reliable source that the headquarters was moved because a citizen complained that she could not function in the library when tickets were being sold for the Pilgrimage. Whatever the reason for the move, the chasm between the Garden Club and the Behind the Big House Tour is steadily widening with little potential for closure. Three hundred school children were scheduled to participate in the Behind the Big House Tour. Those numbers have been steadily rising over the past few years. The students toured two big houses and two slave dwellings. Their stories were complete.

If the Garden Club does not want to play with us, then so be it! We can do this with or without them. If they want to continue to indulge in a story that glorifies a mint julep, Gone with the Wind, sugarcoated, watered-down version of history, they should be aware that, that version of the narrative is going with the wind.

While I may sleep in a slave dwelling more than one time, for the purpose of adding the dwelling to the portfolio of places, I can only do that once. That said, I only sleep in a slave dwelling on my trip to Holly Springs only if someone wants to have that experience. One person came from New York and one from Louisiana to have that experience on Friday night of the event. The three of us spent the night in the Hugh Craft cabin. I slept in a sleeping bag on the bed and they slept on air mattresses on the floor.

Interestingly, the crowd on Saturday was robust. Some people participating in the Pilgrimage did find their way over to where we were.

Saturday belonged to Chef Michael Twitty. He thrilled us with jollof rice, fried chicken, pork ribs and collard greens.

Chelius Carter and I have decided that we would like to take the approach of evaluating how we move forward in this endeavor. Chelius has organized a formidable group of volunteers and paid presenters. These volunteers and presenters have been delivering to the public, a sound program for interpreting the extant spaces of the enslaved in Holly Springs. The school groups are constant and growing, thanks to the mightiest volunteer of them all, Linda Turner. Maybe she is the key to deciding on how we move forward.

As we continue to work with communities and historic sites willing to tell a more complete version of the narrative they disseminate, what we have established in Holly Springs will and is being duplicated elsewhere. We must persist that presenting a romanticized only version of history can be as destructive as teaching no history at all, as in the comments I got at the gathering of the elites.

Behind the Big House, 2020 is a decision that Chelius and his board will have to make. Here is what I know. In the words of Chelius, “we grew up together.” I’m aware that Preserve Marshall County and Holly Springs can move forward with or without the Slave Dwelling Project. The local elements are in place for that. I also know that there are many Garden Club type organizations all throughout these United States peddling romanticized versions of history. Just know that we, the Slave Dwelling Project, will get in where we fit in.

Eileen Ingle

Sometimes insomnia is a good thing. One night after tossing and turning for hours, I decided to do something constructive. I’d long wanted to continue my research on slave life. Googling around to find some new info, I came across the Slave Dwelling Project and the Behind the Big House Tour in Holly Springs Mississippi. What a find! Dedicated, knowledgeable people spreading the word about the people that literally made the Big House what it was. I took advantage of the overnight in a slave cabin even though I had some reservations about it. So happy that I did. It was a wonderful experience! I felt at once both accepted and watched over, and instead of worrying about whether any critters would slip in, I relaxed. Very grateful to meet the wonderful people in this program!