PreservationNation

Written by William D. Holland

In the city of Abiriba in Abia State, Nigeria.

I recently went to Africa to research my family history. Our ancestry traces all the way back to Nigeria. I am a 41 year-old African-American of Igbo descent. On my trip I noticed similarities between Nigerian village construction and my own home in Virginia.

Before my father, a tobacco sharecropper, passed away in 2005, he deeded me, his last son, the dog-trot, chestnut oak cabin. I then took on the task of renovating and restoring the home for the purposes of preserving history and updating our family homestead.

Our small community of Glade Hill in Franklin County is an agricultural region in the southern part of the state. Tobacco was once the king crop. The county earned its reputation during prohibition as the moonshine capital of the United States. We also claim Booker T. Washington, the great educator, as one of our own.

The Holland homestead in Glade Hill, VA, pre-renovation.

Our hand-hewn log home was built in 1821 by slaves who brought building techniques with them from West Africa. Daubing, a process utilizing natural earth as the main source for chinking between logs, was used. Family friends from present-day Nigeria verified the African roots of construction techniques such as this during a recent visit to Glade Hill. Based on my 2009 visit to Igboland, I can also attest to the style’s authenticity.

The home originally housed the Sermones family and their slaves. After the Civil War the Metts family came to own the house. During part of this time, my great-grandmother, Sally Walker, lived in the house with her children. A freed slave, she worked as a midwife and, according to family lore, delivered over 500 babies of African-American and Caucasian descent!

The Holland homestead in Glade Hill, VA, after renovation.

The plantation that we descend from is located about two miles away from the current homestead. It is currently the home of Armistead Burwell, whose family descended from the Tidewater area. Burwell-Holland House was built in 1798. The bricks were made directly on the plantation in front of the house. There’s a bank on the hillside just below the house. The remaining bricks were used to build a 1824 church on a nearby Holland plantation about five miles away.

William and Mrs. Willie Mae Holland in Africa, 2009.

My great-grandfather, Creed Holland, worked on the nearby plantation driving wagons from Virginia to Atlanta. He eventually served in the Civil War. Documents show that Creed Holland’s father, Stephen, was born in Franklin County in 1810. Franklin County was established in 1785. Many Igbo descendants were brought here from the period of 1720 to 1750, so I believe Stephen may have been 2nd or 3rd generation.

Many properties such as mine are being torn down or have already been destroyed. It is my vision to get my historic home listed on the state and/ or national registry. I totally disagree with the intention of not preserving history with structures that are still standing.

When you come to see this precious landmark, you can learn about the Holland family, our Igbo heritage, and some ghost sightings that occurred during our home’s renovation. If the ghost stories do not interest you enough, then I can take you to the cemetery on the property to see 19th century markers! My 79-year-old mother may even bake you a homemade blackberry pie!

William D. Holland is an independent researcher with an emphasis on African-American history and culture.

Written by Rikki Davenport

A group of children learn the history of Drayton Hall.

As a child I wanted to be Laura on “Little House on the Prairie” and dreamed about running away to join the Amish so I could live in the “olden days.” Although, I never became Laura or joined the Amish, I did become a high school history teacher, a Fulbright scholar in Ghana, and now a museum educator. I feel very fortunate that I spend my days with children, teachers, and visitors sharing my love of history and the stories of Drayton Hall.

One of the things that I find that many of our visitors are unaware of is just how much African Americans have contributed to the cultural identity of the Lowcountry. Everything from foodways such as benne seeds and collards to words such as “gumbo” and “shindig” has African origins. Using information from primary source materials and artifacts from our own collections, we are able to tell some of their stories with our programs. But to better share these stories of the enslaved people and their descendants who lived and worked at Drayton Hall, this February we will begin a four-month series of interactive family programs. In recognition of Black History Month, our first program, entitled A Day in the Life of a Colonial Plantation, will focus on the lives of the enslaved people and how their lives compared to those of the Drayton family.

A student practices using a fanner basket as part of "A Day in the Life of a Colonial Plantation." This station is located in a field that would have been planted with rice during the 18th century.

The program will show visitors how the enslaved people were not “nameless” figures laboring in the fields, they were people with names, families, hopes, and aspirations whose artistic skills are evident throughout Charleston and Drayton Hall. During the A Day in the Life of a Colonial Plantation program, families get to try their hand at chores typical for a colonial kitchen and house, use tools to work in a rice field, apprentice for a blacksmith, and play musical instruments with African traditions. We will help guide children in making rag dolls from indigo-dyed cloth and in forming their own clay pinch pots. These items, from our artifact collection, would have been used by enslaved families throughout the Lowcountry.

I encourage families with children ages 6-12 to visit us on Saturday, February 6, for our inaugural family program honoring African-American history through the stories of Drayton Hall. The interactive program will be informative and fun, the perfect recipe for children to love history!

Please visit www.draytonhall.org for more details.

Rikki Davenport is the curator of education at Drayton Hall in Charleston, SC. Contact her by email at rikki_davenport[at]nthp[dot]org or meet her at Drayton Hall on February 6.

February is Black History Month. Visit PreservationNation.org/african-american-heritage to learn more about the people and places that tell the story of African Americans throughout our nation’s history.

Written by Pat Lally

Georgia’s Dorchester Academy is one of many African American historic places that would benefit from the creation of a National Civil Right Trail.

Last Thursday, I had a good meeting with Senator Roland Burris’ (D-IL) staff on the U.S. Civil Rights Trail Special Resource Study Act, a bill the congressman is championing that would authorize a special resource study to analyze opportunities for the preservation of sites related to our country’s civil rights movement.

Moving forward, the National Trust for Historic Preservation will lend a strong hand in getting this legislation through Congress. It’s these kinds of partnerships that truly speak to the heart of what I do, but more on that in a sec.

You know, I’m not old enough to remember some of the civil rights benchmarks in the quest for equality. Sure, I very vaguely recall watching news coverage of the riots following Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination, but those in my generation (and younger) weren’t part of that fight. We didn’t sow the seeds, lay the groundwork, or live in a separate and unequal society.

As a native Washingtonian and a local preservationist, the vestiges of two different cities are all around me, and this distinction is often manifested in important historic resources. I can look out the front window of my historic row house and see the tower of the 1891 Logan School, the first primary educational facility for black children in what was then a newly developed neighborhood. When it comes to historic schools, for example, in my historic district of Capitol Hill, there are two of everything – one used to be for whites and one was for blacks. A local landmark nomination for Logan School sponsored by the Capitol Hill Restoration Society is pending.

Today marks the tenth anniversary that Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was first observed in all 50 states. As a preservationist, I cannot think of a better way to celebrate this milestone – as well as Black History Month this February – than to join the call for the establishment of a National Civil Right Trail.

Here is some food for thought: the National Trust placed Georgia’s Dorchester Academy on its listing of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. Today, the only remaining building on this key civil rights site is deteriorating and structurally compromised. While the community is doing its best to nurture and sustain the academy, it does not have the financial resources to rescue it. Don’t you think that, if this place were part of a nationally-recognized itinerary, the chances of saving it would improve?

In my opinion, this is where we can make a difference and show that historic preservation is much more than just a narrow snapshot of one culture’s story. While legislation to make a National Civil Right Trail a reality has already passed the House, Senator Burris will need our help to ensure that it clears his chamber. In the coming weeks, we’ll look to you to contact your member of Congress and ask them to support this bill by cosponsoring it. In the meantime, tell us what civil rights heritage sites are important to you by leaving a comment below. I’ll take some of your examples back to the Hill to help build awareness on this issue.

Now, as promised in my first post, the following is a snapshot of how my week is shaping up on the Hill. I intend to end each post with a similar roundup so that you can see what I’m doing to make sure the voice of our movement is heard.

• Tax – The Ways and Means Committee continues to plan its 2010 agenda. Democrats met last week, but healthcare and long-term tax planning consumed the discussion. Jobs is next, and the committee is likely to meet either this week or next on provisions that would stimulate employment. Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-PA) continues to raise this in any germane discussions. Please stay tuned; I’ll report on whatever I hear back.
• Jobs/Energy – Congress hits the ground with a full head of steam, with jobs at the top of their agenda. Several proposals have begun to circulate on how to simultaneously create energy efficient buildings and stimulate employment. The problem is that no one is advocating for the retention and retrofit of historic materials such as windows. I’ll be meeting with folks on Capitol Hill to make our concerns known.
• Congressional Preservation Caucus – The National Trust is helping to brief congressional staffers on the benefits of historic preservation and to promote membership in what is called the Congressional Preservation Caucus. Caucuses are great forums to coalesce lawmakers on public policy goals and to focus on the legislative work that needs to be done. Our caucus is hosting this event, and we’re joining with our national partners to make this gathering as effective as possible.

Much more to come. In the mean time, use these links to learn more about the National Trust’s support of the U.S. Civil Rights Trail Special Resource Study Act:

Legislative Brief on the U.S. Civil Rights Trail Special Resource Study Act

National Trust President Richard Moe’s Letter to Senate Leadership in Support of the U.S. Civil Rights Trail Special Resource Study Act

Pat Lally is the congressional affairs director for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Stay tuned for a behind-the-scenes look at how preservation policy is made through his weekly posts from the Hill.