Assessing the Slave Cabin

Citlali Molina

American Economies

Professor Rainville

September 10, 2012

Assessing the Slave Cabin

            When I first visited Sweet Briar College, I was introduced to the slave cabin during a tour.  I had already known that Sweet Briar was a plantation but the history was never fully explained to me.  In a sense, it was a culture shock to see the slave cabin and to discover that this college and its former use were built on people that are virtually unnoticed.  My first instinct was to learn more.  I wanted to feel the history and recognize those people that held Sweet Briar up.  I had a great desire to enter the slave cabin and feel what it would have been like to live there when it was first built.  I thought of the people that lived in it and worked on the land, and I wanted to hold on to that history.

            One thing I find surprising about the slave cabin, is that it is basically the only thing that we know about its time as a plantation.  I would really like to know if any more artifacts remain or exist.  For example, if there used to be a huge village of slave cabins, why haven’t they been excavated before? And if a road used to exist that traveled throughout the landscape, when was it forgotten?  I am sure that under the dirt, near those hidden foundations, we will find a lot more information that will help uncover the mystery of the slave cabin.  It’s a little troublesome that after so much time no one would bother to inquire about the whole property in its plantation days.

            Upon assessing the slave cabin, I believe that the slave cabin should be restored and turned into a sort of tribute to the enslaved and non-enslaved community that helped build the beautiful land we have today.  It would be a museum specifically directed at the history of the people, not the building.  The slave cabin is the lasting remnant on campus that represents a history most would like to forget.  But it should be the opposite, we shouldn’t forget history just because it was bleak; it is still important to how we became who we are today.  The world, including Sweet Briar College, is built on history.  Already more and more information is arising about the working force of the Sweet Briar Plantation and what better place to store this information than in a building that in itself is a piece of history.

                        With the recent recognition of the slave cemetery, I believe the slave cabin would also be a great addition in honoring the people of the Sweet Briar Plantation.  If we are starting to honor their final resting place as a community, then we are more than capable of honoring their moments alive as well.  The point of this tribute museum will be to justly honor and pay the respect that they so rightfully deserve.   

            In order to engage the student body, awareness and respect must be gained for those that worked on the Sweet Briar Plantation.  From experience, the reason no one visits the slave cabin, is because no one knows about it.  We could change that by displaying the true value of what it meant to be a worker during that early century in a plantation. Once we appreciate the value, the slave cabin will become a popular sight.  Also, in order for this tribute to really hit the hearts of those that come to visit, there should be artifacts, if any, of the population that served Sweet Briar Plantation.  It is the only way to confirm that these people were in fact real and that their effort and strength is the reason we stand as a lasting college with a rich history.