The Whitney Plantation Historic District is preserved by the Whitney Institute, a non-profit whose mission is to educate the public about the history and legacies of

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

in the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

. The district, including the main house and outbuildings, is preserved near

Wallace Wallace may refer to: People * Clan Wallace in Scotland * Wallace (given name) * Wallace (surname) * Wallace (footballer, born 1986), full name Wallace Fernando Pereira, Brazilian football left-back * Wallace (footballer, born 1987), full name Wa ...

, in St. John the Baptist Parish,

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, on the River Road along the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. What was originally known as ''Habitation Haydel'' was founded in 1752 by Ambroise Heidal, one of the many German immigrants who colonized the river parishes in the 18th century. His descendants owned it until 1860. In 1866, after the Civil War, it was sold to businessman Bradish Johnson. He renamed it Whitney Plantation in honor of his daughter who had married into the Whitney family.

Overview

The plantation was a property. Today, are occupied by the museum and historic district complex. It opened to the public for the first time in December 2014. The museum was founded by John Cummings, a trial attorney from

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

who spent more than $10 million of his own fortune on this long-term project. He worked on it for 20 years. The director of research is Dr. Ibrahima Seck, a

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

ese scholar specializing in the history of slavery. The grounds contain several memorial sites dedicated to the more than 100,000 men, women, and children who were enslaved in Louisiana. Original art commissioned by Cummings, such as life-size sculptures of children, were added to help tell the history of slavery. The sculptures are representative of people born into slavery before the Civil War. Many survivors were interviewed as adults for the

Federal Writers' Project The Federal Writers' Project (FWP) was a federal government project in the United States created to provide jobs for out-of-work writers and to develop a history and overview of the United States, by state, cities and other jurisdictions. It was ...

during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

in the 1930s. These oral histories of hundreds of the last survivors of

slavery in the United States The legal institution of human chattel slavery, comprising the enslavement primarily of List of ethnic groups of Africa, Africans and African Americans, was prevalent in the United States of America from its founding in 1776 until 1865 ...

were collected and published by the federal government, to preserve their stories. The transcripts and some audio recordings are held by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

. Mr. Cummings donated the entirety of the museum and land to a non-profit known as the Whitney Plantation Museum (landowner of the site) in 2019. In February 2025, the

United States National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all national parks; most national monuments; and other natural, historical, and recreational ...

withdrew an application to recognize the plantation as a national landmark after the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality requested the application be denied.

Historic structures

The French Creole raised-style main house, built in ca. 1790, is an important architectural example in the state. The plantation has numerous outbuildings or "dependencies": a ''pigeonnier'' or

dovecote A dovecote or dovecot , doocot (Scots Language, Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house Domestic pigeon, pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or b ...

, a

plantation store A company store is a retail store selling a limited range of food, clothing and daily necessities to employees of a company. It is typical of a company town in a remote area where virtually everyone is employed by one firm, such as a coal mine. In ...

, the only surviving French Creole barn in North America (ca. 1790), a detached kitchen, an overseer's house, a mule barn, and two slave cabins. Other original buildings in the main complex include a shrimp trap shed, tractor shed, manager's house and shopkeeper's house. The complex includes three archaeological sites. These sites have been subject to varying degrees of excavation and exploration. The 1884 Mialaret House, and its associated buildings and property, were added to the complex by later purchase in 1920. They help to represent the long working history of the plantation which extended well into the 20th century, ceasing operations as a plantation in 1975. Some of the extensive land is still planted with

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

and is still owned by Whitney Plantation today. The Whitney Plantation

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains historic building, older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal p ...

was listed on the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1992. It is one of 26 sites featured on the

Louisiana African American Heritage Trail Louisiana African American Heritage Trail () is a cultural heritage trail with 38 sites designated by the state of Louisiana, from New Orleans along the Mississippi River to Baton Rouge and Shreveport, with sites in small towns and plantations als ...

. File:The Whitney Plantation, Wallace LA.jpg, The Whitney Plantation’s Allées Gwendolyn Midlo Hall memorial reflects the most significant research project undertaken to document the genealogy of enslaved people in Louisiana. File:Big House at Whitney Plantation - rear view - 2016.jpg, Rear of the Big House, home to the Haydel family between 1790 and 1867.

Ownership of the Whitney

The Whitney Plantation's land was first bought in 1752, by Ambroise Heidel, an immigrant from Germany. At some point his family changed the spelling of their surname to Haydel. Upon Ambroise's death, ownership of the land passed to his youngest son, Jean Jacques Haydel. In 1820, this son bequeathed the property to his own sons, who were named Jean Jacques Jr. and Marcellin. Jean Jacques Jr. and Marcellin later bought a plantation next to the property they had been given by their father. After Marcellin's death in 1839, his widow Marie Azélie Haydel ran the plantation during its most productive time. In this period, it was one of Louisiana's most profitable sugarcane businesses. Marie Haydel was one of Louisiana's largest slaveholders by the time she died in 1860. Later, in 1866, after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

had ended, Bradish Johnson became the owner of the plantation. He renamed it as Whitney, in honor of his daughter who had married a man with that surname. John Cummings acquired the Whitney complex in 1999, holding it until 2019. He spent more than 15 years restoring it before opening it to the public in 2014. He donated the Whitney in 2019. It is now a

501(c)(3) organization A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...

governed by a board of directors.

In popular culture

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. Quentin Tarantino filmography, His films are characterized by graphic violence, extended dialogue often featuring much profanity, and references to ...

made a film ''

Django Unchained ''Django Unchained'' ( ) is a 2012 American revisionist Western film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Produced by Tarantino's A Band Apart and Columbia Pictures, it stars Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry W ...

'' (2012) about a slave uprising. A scene was filmed in the rebuilt blacksmith's shop at Whitney Plantation. *''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

'' magazine made a short documentary video about the museum in 2015, ''Why America Needs a Slavery Museum''.

References

External links