Slavery in Louisiana - a Visit to Whitney Plantation - Episode 54

Slavery in Louisiana - a Visit to Whitney Plantation

In today's episode, we learn about slavery in Louisiana. We visit Whitney Plantation, located in Wallace, LA 40 miles West of New Orleans. The Whitney is the only plantation whose primary focus is on the slaves who worked, lived, and died along this stretch of the Mississippi River.

My guest today is Joy Banner, Director of Marketing at Whitney. Joy is also a native of the nearby community and is a descendant of the slaves at Whitney.

On today’s show, you’ll learn...

About the people who were kidnapped, sold into slavery, and came to work at the Whitney and other plantations along River Road. You’ll meet some of the slaves and hear their surprising connections to modern day New Orleanians. You’ll gain insight into the conditions they endured, and what plantation life was like for the enslaved. Most plantations along River Road were sugar plantations, so you’ll also learn about the process of making granulated sugar on a plantation.

"We ask African Americans to get over it, but we don’t really understand what the it is.”  - John Cummings, owner of Whitney Plantation

Time Stamps

5:30      Meet our guest, Joy Banner

6:45      Where is Whitney Plantation located?

10:00    Mission of Whitney Plantation

12:00    Slaves as chattel

19:15     Habitation Haydel and the origin of Whitney Plantation

22:30    Wall of Honor

26:00   Reality of slavery

36:00   Process of making granulated sugar on a plantation

44:00   Fantasy of plantation life

46:00   The story of Anna and her descendants

50:15    Life after Emancipation

53:20   Bouki Fait Gombo

Resources

Whitney Plantation - located in Wallace, LA 40 miles West of New Orleans. For more information about Whitney Plantation, visit their website.

Thank You

Thanks to Joy Banner for welcoming my wife and I to Whitney Plantation. Joy took us around the grounds on a day when they were closed, patiently answered all of our questions, then made time two days later for the interview.

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Mark