WALLACE, La. (WGNO) – On the banks of the Mississippi, in St. John Parish near Edgard is a Louisiana plantation unlike any other. While many of these establishments celebrate the beauties of the antebellum era, the Whitney Plantation is both an education about and a tribute to the slaves that toiled and lived there. Yes, Whitney, also known as the Haydel Plantation is a museum telling the truths of slavery.
According to its founder John Cummins, “If we are to correct many of the hangovers from slavery, we all have to embrace it. We have embraced those facts, and realize that we’re only talking about the hand that’s been dealt to us. As humanitarians as Americans. As Americans, we can no longer tolerate the hangover from lack of education.”
With the research built originally from the work of author Gwendolyn Midlow Hall, Whitney employs Dr. Ibrihima Seck as its primary researcher. Dr. Seck says Whitney offers a chance for us all to learn, “Everybody, especially the African-Americans, needs to understand the meaning of slavery. Why Africans and later African-Americans were enslaved in places like this.”
From original slave cottages to the oldest outdoor kitchen in Louisiana to the jail cells, and blacksmith’s shop, the story of Whitney is both visual and told from over two centuries ago.
“The plantation was bought by Ambrose Haidel who came from Germany in 1752. Before that he had a very small farm downriver in St. Charles Parish, and then he moved here. And this is the place that he got wealthy raising crops of indigo”, says Dr. Seck.
Indigo was the primary crop here, but sugar became the big money maker. The large circular vats or kettles are everywhere and harken back to a time when sugar was refined on the property. In addition, Whitney is a tribute today. There are monument walls naming every slave that worked at here, and those documented anyplace in Louisiana. Perhaps the most visual tributes are the Children of Whitney sculptures in the church, created by artist Woodrow Nash. It’s a powerful place, and its founder is unapologetic about telling the story of the enslaved people that lived here.
Cummins says, “I wanna make it clear that here we want people who basically disagree with us to come and to talk. If they walk outta here and say, ‘All of those suckers should be in chains again. We made a mistake freeing them.’ Welcome to America, man. You can have that opinion. I violently disagree with that, but you can come here. We wanna hear you. We want to give you an opportunity to talk to us and to see this, and maybe you will see something that you didn’t see before, something I didn’t see until 14 years ago.”
Dr. Seck has written the book Bouki Fait Gombo as a history of the people of Whitney.
