American Studies Commons^™

Through The Words Of Those Who Have Experienced It: Reading The Whitney Plantation Along Neoslave Narratives, Sarah Payne

Study the South

Recent representations of slavery, however well intentioned, have provoked discussions about who should represent black pain and oppression and what purpose such representations serve. Also evoking such questions are contemporary plantation tours, most of which are white-centered, “moonlight and magnolia” recreations. There have been efforts to represent slavery more accurately at plantations such as Oak Alley, and most notably, the Whitney Plantation, which opened in 2014 in Wallace, Louisiana.

This essay asks how our understanding of the Whitney Plantation, as a representation of slavery, a public history project, and an example of dark tourism, might be affected by reading the …

Sister Act: Margaret Walker And Eudora Welty, Carolyn J. Brown

Study the South

At the end of their lives, in the 1980s and ’90s, both Margaret Walker and Eudora Welty were recognized several times by their hometown and state for their long careers and bodies of work. The paths they traveled to reach this intersection of common recognition were quite different, however. Almost exact contemporaries -— Welty lived from 1909-2001 and Walker from 1915-1998 -— they share similar timelines and histories, both having lived through the Depression, World War II, and the civil rights movement. But as one was white and one was black, their stories are very different, as are their paths …