Hallowing the Ground
Honoring Enslaved Lives Through the Spaces They Lived and Worked
By 1860, approximately 2 million enslaved people worked on cotton plantations in the United States, producing around 4.5 million bales of cotton each year.
On the eve of the Civil War, the Louisiana sugar industry alone reached a peak value of $25 million, illustrating the immense economic power generated by the exploitation of enslaved labor on sugar plantations.
$25 million dollars in 1861 would be equivalent to approximately $800 million dollars, accounting for inflation, in 2024.
“I was owned by Johnson Bell and born in New Orleans, in Loisiana. Cordin to the bill of sale, I’m eighty-six years old, and my master was a Frenchman and was real mean to me. He ran saloon and kept bad women. I don’t know nothing ‘bout my folks, if I had any, ‘crept my mama. They done tell me she was a bad woman and a French Creole. I worked ‘round master’s saloon, kep everything cleaned up after they’d have all night drinkin’ parties, men and women.”
“Anne Bell: Dats de reason I likes to sing dat old plantation spiritual, ‘Swing Low Sweet Chariot, Jesus Gwinter Carry me Home’. Does I believe in ‘ligion? What else good for colored folks? I ask you if dere ain’t a heaven, what’s colored folks got to look forward to? They can’t git anywhere down here.”
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The title of my first exhibition is called Hallowing the Ground: Honoring Enslaved Lives Through the Spaces They Lived and Worked.
This exhibition aims to create a sacred space for healing, and contemplation on one of the darkest chapters of American history. Through a combination of powerful visuals and evocative audio narration, Hallowing the Ground invites guests to deeply engage with the lived experiences of enslaved people.
At the heart of the exhibition are 32 fine art prints depicting slave quarters and overseer homes from Magnolia Plantation, Whitney Plantation, Hezekiah Alexander Home, and Oak Alley Plantation—sites across the American South. These photographs are carefully composed to honor the humanity of those who lived and labored within these spaces.
The experience is enriched with audio excerpts drawn from the Federal Writers’ Project interviews conducted between 1936 and 1938, where formerly enslaved individuals recount their personal stories. To provide historical context and contrast, these voices may be juxtaposed with narration from pro-slavery arguments of the time, including excerpts from George Fitzhugh’s influential book, Sociology for the South.
This dual narrative will reveal the dehumanizing rhetoric used to justify slavery, set against the undeniable humanity of those who endured it. By presenting these perspectives side by side, the exhibition offers poignant insight into the contradictions and cruelty of this era, while honoring the voices of the enslaved.
The goal of Hallowing the Ground is to foster moments of quiet reflection, contemplation, and deep empathy, helping guests confront this history and its enduring impact in a meaningful way.
“The overseers and patterollers in the time of slavery were called poor white trash by the slaves. On the plantations, not every one, but some of the slave holders would have some certain slave women reserved for their own use. Sometimes children almost white would be born to them. I have seen many of these children. ”
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This is a vital chapter of our shared history—one every American should connect with on a deeper level. Begin or continue your journey of education and reflection by immersing yourself in the spaces, stories, and voices that shaped this time.
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