{"id":3761,"date":"2013-11-11T08:52:01","date_gmt":"2013-11-11T12:52:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/arts.umich.edu\/ink\/?p=3761"},"modified":"2013-10-29T12:50:23","modified_gmt":"2013-10-29T16:50:23","slug":"plantation-inspiration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/2013\/11\/11\/plantation-inspiration\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with a Southerner: Oak Alley Plantation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For Fall Break I went on an amazing (and delicious) mini-vacation with my mom to help celebrate her fiftieth birthday in New Orleans. \u00c2\u00a0Both of us are huge francophiles and relished every French detail that we took in during our stay.<\/p>\n<p>On the Saturday of our trip we ventured out of the city to Oak Alley Plantation, a gorgeous estate that was built to do exactly what it did to us. \u00c2\u00a0It was built by a man to lure his wife away from the thrills of New Orleans. \u00c2\u00a0The guide said the wife was not impressed though my mom and I could barely keep our mouths closed as we walked wide-eyed through every hall and corridor, including the super famous alley of 28 oaks (all of which are 300 years old, which is roughly middle age in oak years).<\/p>\n<p>Oak Alley was built between 1837-1839, as a typical Greek Revival antebellum-era plantation complete with massive doric columns, high ceilings, and stark white chunky crown molding around the edge of the ceilings.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"exterior\" src=\"https:\/\/scontent-b-ord.xx.fbcdn.net\/hphotos-ash3\/1383920_10153327955215212_1894742913_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"672\" height=\"504\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This picture doesn&#8217;t do it justice. \u00c2\u00a0In terms of scale, it is the opposite of the ramshackle homes that are still being revived in New Orleans. \u00c2\u00a0The wrap-around second floor porch alone could fit several one-room homes around it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"porch\" src=\"https:\/\/fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net\/hphotos-ak-frc3\/1379463_10153327964040212_2063176539_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"403\" height=\"302\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"porch2\" src=\"https:\/\/fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net\/hphotos-ak-frc3\/1238238_10153327963800212_1365607539_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"404\" height=\"540\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"outdoor\" src=\"https:\/\/scontent-b-ord.xx.fbcdn.net\/hphotos-prn2\/1393145_10153327975565212_877124364_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"672\" height=\"504\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We also toured their slave quarters where the names of all the Oak Alley slaves were posted on the wall, along with clothes, cooking utensils, and shackles.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"slavehouse\" src=\"https:\/\/scontent-a-ord.xx.fbcdn.net\/hphotos-prn2\/1395236_10153327954065212_686116124_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"576\" height=\"432\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Slave quarters are always unsettling to me, especially in light of the fact that 50 feet away lies an entirely different world. \u00c2\u00a0I always feel guilty walking through these things. \u00c2\u00a0Like I need to apologize to someone or donate some of my things to make a better life for someone. \u00c2\u00a0However, it made me glad that they had taken the time to preserve the details about the lives of the people who built Oak Alley and not just those who enjoyed its delicacies.<\/p>\n<p>After the slave quarters, we toured the house, which was magnificent and beautiful with its interior Greek revival style.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"interior1\" src=\"https:\/\/scontent-b-ord.xx.fbcdn.net\/hphotos-frc3\/1395355_10153327959815212_1852621748_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"576\" height=\"432\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"interior2\" src=\"https:\/\/scontent-b-ord.xx.fbcdn.net\/hphotos-prn2\/1395241_10153327959525212_1037823400_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"504\" height=\"672\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"interior3\" src=\"https:\/\/scontent-b-ord.xx.fbcdn.net\/hphotos-ash4\/1382070_10153327959645212_486472933_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"504\" height=\"672\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">This was my favorite room because of the blue and green that seemed to bring nature inside. \u00c2\u00a0I also loved the heavy, sweeping effect of the drapery around the beds and windows. \u00c2\u00a0After learning about the history of the family, involving sickness, death, and amputations, I saw these rooms as more than paint and fabric.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Our guide that day was an amputee. \u00c2\u00a0She later told us that she lost her right arm from the elbow down in a car accident twelve years ago. \u00c2\u00a0But that wasn&#8217;t the first thing I noticed about her. \u00c2\u00a0The first thing I noticed was that s<span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">he was warm and lovely and seemed completely at ease.<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\"> <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\"> She had the brightest smile with a prominent gap in her two front teeth and the blackest hair that was elegantly pulled back into an intricate bun. \u00c2\u00a0And she knew a lot about the family history of Oak Alley.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">For one, after the Civil War, the plantation was economically not sustainable. \u00c2\u00a0This did not surprise me at all. The sheer magnitude of the 25 acre plantation and the &#8216;big house&#8217; as it was called could not be sustained by anything besides free labor. \u00c2\u00a0In 1866 it was sold for $32,800.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The house was not restored until 1922, but when it was, a trust was established so that more renovations and also archeological work could be done. \u00c2\u00a0Air conditioning, electricity, and other &#8216;modern comforts&#8217; were added without changing any of the aesthetics of the house.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">When our tour was done, my mom and I decided that we are glad to be out of the era of slave labor, but were grateful to take part in the preservation of architectural styles and human stories, both those of the plantation owners and the slaves. \u00c2\u00a0If you get a chance to ever go, I highly recommend it!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"outside\" src=\"https:\/\/scontent-a-ord.xx.fbcdn.net\/hphotos-ash3\/1379577_10153327969470212_142011706_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"672\" height=\"504\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For Fall Break I went on an amazing (and delicious) mini-vacation with my mom to help celebrate her fiftieth birthday in New Orleans. \u00c2\u00a0Both of us are huge francophiles and relished every French detail that we took in during our stay. On the Saturday of our trip we ventured out of the city to Oak [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[68,392,390,389,391],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3761"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3761"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3764,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3761\/revisions\/3764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}