Plantations are fascinating, complicated, nuanced places when they commit to telling the truth about their pasts (as some in Louisiana, including the famed Oak Alley, are increasingly doing). Places of brutality. Also places of resilience. (thread) https://www.nola.com/news/article_937000dc-d5d0-11ea-b150-237b10ac5da1.html?1599196449826

Our current moment in time and the events of this summer mean that a lot of people are trying to become active in ensuring that America deals with its scars over slavery. But there have been ppl in Louisiana doing this for decades at plantations, as you'll read in my story (2)

Oak Alley is maybe the most famous plantation in Louisiana. I spoke w/ a Black tour guide there, Jessica Smith, who feels called to make sure ppl know that it was more than hoop skirts and mint juleps. That's a big about-face from their past, where slavery wasn't a main focus (3)

Another interesting bit of history about Oak Alley: there's a pervasive rumor that a mysterious French settler planted the famed oaks. Not true, according to their latest research. They were planted & cultivated by slaves between 1820-1840 (4)

Oak Alley is also now paying homage to a slave named Antoine, who was a master gardener. He may have been the reason why the oaks become the iconic scene they are today. But one thing he's for sure credited with is planting & cultivating the 1st pecan tree on US soil (5)

Not every plantation has committed to showing all sides of its history. Houmas House declined to be interviewed for our story and says in online reviews that if your focus is slavery, you should go elsewhere. Nottoway doesn't devote any info on its website to slaves (6)

But for those who are committed, some really amazing things can come out of it. At Laura Plantation, a year ago, they hosted a family reunion for descendants of a woman named Clémence, born there in 1859 to a Creole mother and a White father (7)

Whitney Plantation, which opened in 2014 and focuses entirely on the slaves who lived there, has been a huge success. “The thing I see here on the ground, every day, is people of all ages, races, wanting to learn the truth about our nation’s history" director says (8)

Anyway, I hope you'll read my story and maybe learn a thing or two from it. What is the role of a plantation in today's society? And how is plantation tourism evolving to meet this moment? (end) https://www.nola.com/news/article_937000dc-d5d0-11ea-b150-237b10ac5da1.html?1599196449826