PresentationTitle
Panel. Community Engagement and Interpreting Slavery in North Mississippi
Location
Nutt Auditorium
Start Date
22-7-2018 8:00 PM
Description
- The “Behind the Big House” Project / Jodi Skipper, University of Mississippi and Suzanne Davidson
Behind the Big House is a slave dwelling interpretation program in Holly Springs, Mississippi. The program offers a counter-narrative to the Holly Springs Annual Pilgrimage Tour of Historic Homes and Churches, the city’s main tourist attraction which has historically neglected the contributions of enslaved persons. Behind the Big House was initiated by several private property owners who understood that interpreting the structures which housed enslaved persons could help to remedy such omissions. In addition to discussing how historical memory impacts the functions of these sites in the present, Skipper will discuss her role as a Behind the Big House tour guide, and how she incorporates the tour as an applied component in her courses. - Slavery and Its Descendants / W. Ralph Eubanks, University of Mississippi
The legacy of slavery and its impact across generations of African Americans is often ignored or overlooked, particularly by institutions that benefited from enslaved labor. The University of Mississippi is no exception. Payment records from the 1840s in the archives of the University of Mississippi indicate that Robert Sheegog—who once owned Faulkner’s home Rowan Oak—along with other local slave owners, loaned slaves to the University. This connection between the slaves of Rowan Oak and the building of the University of Mississippi holds the potential to redefine the idea of legacy connections to the University, since inevitably the descendants of several of those slaves are among the university’s alumni. This paper will discuss the on-going work of the University of Mississippi’s slavery research group and the possible outcomes of planned genealogical research to find the descendants of the slaves from Faulkner’s Rowan Oak who built the university. - The University of Mississippi Slavery Research Group / Jeffrey Jackson and Charles K. Ross, University of Mississippi
In this presentation, we present the story of the University of Mississippi Slavery Research Group focusing on its origins and the various factors that led to its formation. We highlight some of the groups’ most significant recent efforts to better understand how antebellum slavery shaped the formation of the University of Mississippi and life in North Mississippi generally and we discuss some of our initial projects and initiatives that seek to remember, memorialize and interpret the lives of enslaved people for our students, our local community, and our nation. - Interpreting Slavery at Burns Belfry and Rowan Oak / George McDaniel, Burns-Belfry African American History Museum
Caroline Barr was a foundational figure in the life of William Faulkner. As he called her, “Mammy Callie,” she had worked for the Falkner family since he was a young boy. Her house and her story demand a further interpretation beyond the gates of Rowan Oak. Using her as a point of departure, this talk will explore African American history within the larger context of the town of Oxford. It will also look at the ways in which that history is being interpreted today and how that interpretation can be improved through building connections between different historical sites. This connectivity allows for a deeper understanding of African American history in Oxford and the world in which Faulkner lived and wrote.
Relational Format
Conference proceeding
Recommended Citation
Skipper, Jodi; Davidson, Suzanne; Eubanks, W. Ralph; Ross, Charles K.; Jackson, Jeffrey T.; and McDaniel, George, "Panel. Community Engagement and Interpreting Slavery in North Mississippi" (2018). Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha Conference. 6.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/fy/2018/schedule/6
COinS
Jul 22nd, 8:00 PM
Panel. Community Engagement and Interpreting Slavery in North Mississippi
Nutt Auditorium
- The “Behind the Big House” Project / Jodi Skipper, University of Mississippi and Suzanne Davidson
Behind the Big House is a slave dwelling interpretation program in Holly Springs, Mississippi. The program offers a counter-narrative to the Holly Springs Annual Pilgrimage Tour of Historic Homes and Churches, the city’s main tourist attraction which has historically neglected the contributions of enslaved persons. Behind the Big House was initiated by several private property owners who understood that interpreting the structures which housed enslaved persons could help to remedy such omissions. In addition to discussing how historical memory impacts the functions of these sites in the present, Skipper will discuss her role as a Behind the Big House tour guide, and how she incorporates the tour as an applied component in her courses. - Slavery and Its Descendants / W. Ralph Eubanks, University of Mississippi
The legacy of slavery and its impact across generations of African Americans is often ignored or overlooked, particularly by institutions that benefited from enslaved labor. The University of Mississippi is no exception. Payment records from the 1840s in the archives of the University of Mississippi indicate that Robert Sheegog—who once owned Faulkner’s home Rowan Oak—along with other local slave owners, loaned slaves to the University. This connection between the slaves of Rowan Oak and the building of the University of Mississippi holds the potential to redefine the idea of legacy connections to the University, since inevitably the descendants of several of those slaves are among the university’s alumni. This paper will discuss the on-going work of the University of Mississippi’s slavery research group and the possible outcomes of planned genealogical research to find the descendants of the slaves from Faulkner’s Rowan Oak who built the university. - The University of Mississippi Slavery Research Group / Jeffrey Jackson and Charles K. Ross, University of Mississippi
In this presentation, we present the story of the University of Mississippi Slavery Research Group focusing on its origins and the various factors that led to its formation. We highlight some of the groups’ most significant recent efforts to better understand how antebellum slavery shaped the formation of the University of Mississippi and life in North Mississippi generally and we discuss some of our initial projects and initiatives that seek to remember, memorialize and interpret the lives of enslaved people for our students, our local community, and our nation. - Interpreting Slavery at Burns Belfry and Rowan Oak / George McDaniel, Burns-Belfry African American History Museum
Caroline Barr was a foundational figure in the life of William Faulkner. As he called her, “Mammy Callie,” she had worked for the Falkner family since he was a young boy. Her house and her story demand a further interpretation beyond the gates of Rowan Oak. Using her as a point of departure, this talk will explore African American history within the larger context of the town of Oxford. It will also look at the ways in which that history is being interpreted today and how that interpretation can be improved through building connections between different historical sites. This connectivity allows for a deeper understanding of African American history in Oxford and the world in which Faulkner lived and wrote.