“From Slavery to Freedom: The Magnolia Cabin Project”

Our Perspective:
For over 300 years Magnolia Plantation, located on the pastoral banks of the Ashley River, has been home to the celebrated Drayton family.  However, they certainly weren’t the only residents at Magnolia.  Scores of enslaved Africans and their descendants have also lived and labored here for as many years. 

The Magnolia Cabin Project began March 2009 and presents a genuine, compelling narrative about this overlooked people.  This project is a direct attempt at reaching out to those who have never been exposed to this incredible part of the American experience. 

Though not the first program relating African-American history at a Southern plantation museum, the cabin project offers a fresh perspective illuminating a history that begins in West Africa and traces the experiences of millions of those enslaved as they endured The Middle Passage and the many trials of bondage in the New World. In other words, “this ain't your grandma’s old-time slavery tour.”

Our Project:
This special project preserved and restored four original slave cabins and one turn of the century cabin as a way of illuminating the untold history of these South Carolina inhabitants.  The exhibit serves as a testament to African know-how and accomplishment.  Although forcibly brought to America, enslaved Africans positively and inalterably affected the course of American history, as well as the development of American culture.  Without the contributions of these individuals, their skills
and their humanity, America would be unrecognizable today. 
 

Our Program:
This unique collection of slave cabins, occupied well into the 20th century, has been carefully preserved and restored to document the full arc of African–American life at Magnolia.  Each cabin reflects a different period of the African experience on the plantation; from slavery to Reconstruction, through the 1920’s, and on to the civil rights era of the 1960’s. This provides an extraordinary historical perspective.  After an insightful presentation, visitors enjoy the cabins at their leisure.  Interpretive furniture and landscaping, including a period-accurate culinary/medicinal garden, complete this award winning 45 minute program.  A nearby African-American cemetery is also accessible with this tour.

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Lowcountry Africana Project