whitney plantation

After reading the expansive article in the New York Times magazine, I was curious and compelled to visit the Whitney Plantation. This is "not your father's plantation tour" -- it was deeply moving and oh so authentic of a gritty, rough hewn way. To those who have a stereotyped vision of a plantation being an iconic Tara out of "Gone with the Wind" -- the Whitney Plantation will severly, in a good way, shatter that air brushed vision. The statues of slave children in the church was haunting -- like they were ghosts who could come alive. Gripping. My highest compliments to Mr. Cummings, for seeing his vision through on educating the public about about plantation life -- through the slaves' eyes -- my animated conversation with him was a delight.

When you visit New Orleans, take the 45 minute drive and visit this plantation and museum. It will have a profound effect on your view of American history, and slavery in particular. Our tour guide was superb, and the two hour tour was well worth the price. The New York Times article "Building the first slavery museum in America" (David Amsden, 2/26/15) is an excellent introduction to the story of the museum.

This is a faithfully and beautifully restored 18th century plsntation with a difference - it tells about plantation life from the slaves' perspective. The historical displays are moving and powerful, the documentation hard-hitting and gripping. There are restored slave quarters with two that go back to slave times. Blacksmith shop and other work buildings are also original. (Only the kitchen is rebuilt.) And the plantation house, also original, has been restored Inside and out to look as it did 200 years ago and not as a Hollywood back lot. The Whitney just opened in Dec., 2014, so they have just begun. The guide was knowledgeable and interesting, though at just under two hours the walking tour was a little too long. A MUST SEE for New Orleans visitors who want to see a plantation.

As a tour guide in New Orleans I visited Whitney Plantation so I could experience it and answer questions from tourists in the city. I was very impressed with the focus on enslaved history. Most plantations eliminate it entirely (or gloss over it) and, through the years, my tourists have commented on the fact. The tour is very informative and presents the horrors of slavery but is as one-sided in telling the story as Uncle Remus is in presenting the "Happy Darky" image. There is much misinformation - for example, Bradish Johnson (the man who gave Whitney Plantation its name) was from Plaquemines Parish, LA - not New York. Their claim that all overseers were white and all slave drivers were black is untrue. Many slave inventories list enslaved overseers. While rape, tragically, was not uncommon, there is ample evidence to show that not every sexual act between owner and enslaved was forced. Many women sought out relationships with their owners hoping for better treatment for herself and the children they produced. If a story is to be told, tell the entire story and not just the ones that fit the agenda.We went on a cold, rainy day and our party of 3 (two of us were New Orleans tour guides) were the alone with our tour guide. She was friendly and personable but read the tour from a note book which she carried with her. A tour guide must be in full possession of, and completely at ease with the information when presenting a tour.The tour goes out rain or shine but the grounds and exhibits are not accessible in rain. The memorials are made of a black marble with engraving that absolutely vanishes when wet. It's remarkable that they wanted to show us a wall of completely invisible names. There is much mud in wet weather - the pathways (which are mostly gravel and muddy) need to be paved with materials that don't have us tracking mud into the house and some exhibits (such as the slave cabin) don't have pavement leading to them at all. We were expected to walk through mud to approach them. Our tour guide was obviously embarrassed by these deficiencies and offered us vouchers to allow us to come back on another day. However, when she asked for vouchers at the desk, the employee said no, shrugged and said "The tour goes out rain or shine." Understood; but the tour should still be complete in the rain and all exhibits should be available for viewing.There is an aluminum plant nearby and the smell it produces is nauseating. Be aware.All this said - Whitney Plantation is certainly a step up from all of the others when it comes to addressing Enslaved History. So far, the best way to learn about slavery in Louisiana is to visit a plantation which is all magnolias and hoopskirts (such as Oak Alley) and then visit Whitney with its shackles and rape women breaking the necks of their children to deliver them from slavery and realize that history actually lies somewhere in the middle.

Most River Road plantations are all about the house and grounds. This is not. While you do visit the house, the focus is more on the slaves. Two thirds of the walking tour is spent at the 3 memorials erected listing names and origin of slaves. Most touching is the area dedicated to the children of slaves. There is a wonderful sculpture of a Negro angel holding an infant. This is a newly opened plantation. I hope they develop the grounds now that the memorials are done.

Most of the plantations in the area give a tour that mostly focuses on how nice the "big house" is and all the nice things that were owned. Given a plantation was built on the backs of slaves, it's odd that most other plantations try to sweep that under the rug as much as possible and instead just like to talk about those night white people. As a nice white person, that's great and all, but I'd rather here the *real* story of how plantations worked, and that is exactly how the Whitney Plantation does it. The tour guide was great, very knowledgable and personable, and truly friendly and caring. The different areas of the plantation were well done (the ceramic sculptures of children in the church took my breath away, and that's not a phrase I often use). There were a few typos and duplicate quotes etched into some of the 100s of plaques, but that would be about my only nitpick. They're also doing a lot of work to continue to build and improve the plantation, and they've only been opened since December of 2014, so I'm sure it will only get better.The 1.5-2 hour tour was something like $22 for adults and $17 for students, and it was well worth it.

My partner and I visited this museum, having almost driven past the exit. Whatever compelled us to get off of the highway was magical... and necessary. The tour was amazing in its honesty and compelling in its recounting of the experiences of enslaved people. The history can't be erased and this is a must-see place for anyone in the New Orleans or Baton Rouge area. It is emotional and soul-stirring.

I visited Whitney yesterday to see for myself what is a "newly opened to the public" plantation. I regularly visit plantations on River Road as a yearly pilgrimage of the region and the history so connected to New Orleans.Unlike all other plantations that focus on the house itself, the family, the wealth and privilege, Whitney does something no other plantation tour has done by focusing on slavery. If you're looking for the typical plantation tour where the focus is on the ruling class, this is not the plantation for you.It is however a frank and accurate presentation of the other side of the plantation system and tells the stories of the people caught up in horrors of slavery.Clearly this is a bold commitment to the untold side of history. For those with an open mind it will enlighten and educate. It is a powerful look back and at the same time proof of how far we have come as a society. It is worth seeing, if for no other reason than to bring some balance to history we've all been taught.The entire physical development of the plantation is clearly a work in progress but it is worth seeing at this stage for it has a wonderful main house, a barn, a kitchen, a church, slave quarters and many out buildings that even at this stage compare with other river road plantations.

The plantation tour industry has failed to recognize that the "romance" of the Old South was on the backs of enslaved people. Most plantations focus on the charming lives of the planters, the "massahs," with no acknowledgement of the terror heaped on generations of those who were enslaved. This "Gone with the Wind" version of slavery has a hold not only on the visitors to plantations along Louisiana's River Road, but on our nation as well. We seem to have a collective amnesia regarding the truth of our national history. I was thrilled to tour the Whitney Plantation and hope it opens eyes and hearts by bringing a different narrative to life. Thank you to everyone involved in this ambitious project to help people understand our collective history and our collective responsibility.

The guide/ tour director was not very competent, could not answer many questions,However her mission to paint the practice of slavery and all its atrocities, which certainly can not be defended, was very biased. At one point she mentioned the 1811 slave revolt, but did not relay to those on the tour about how these slaves went about hacking to death people they encountered. For the owner of this tourist attraction to hide the facts about the slave revolt, just allows them to do just what they are accusing others of doing. And that is to tell just their version of history. While their certainly were thousands of slaves in the south the south did not have the monopoly on slavery. The emancipation proclamation act as written actually freed all the slaves in Confederate held territories ( the south ) before any slaves were freed in the north. Lastly, when the tour guide in her agenda driven closing remarks, suggested that slavery continued into the 1960's, because her Grand Father share cropped a part of a white man owned property she lost all credibility. The cost of admission was far to great for the ($22.00) product offered.

The Whitney Plantation is the ONLY plantation museum in Louisiana with a focus on slavery and it is a must see if you have the time to venture an hour or so outside the city. We had the pleasure of touring the museum with the academic director, Dr. Seck and also spending time with the museum's owner, John Cummings III. The "big house" is a stop on the tour, but the slaves who toiled to build it and maintain the 1700 acre plantation (not to mention the hardships they endured) are the truly the focus of everything you will see at this historic site.

My family and I recently toured Whitney Plantation and were very disappointed in the history provided by the tour guide. The intent is to explain slavery but it should not delete the history ofthe Haydel family that ran this plantation. Part of understanding how slavery became such an integrated part of this plantation and many others is to also understand the slave owners. The admission fee was quite high for what seemed to be a work in progress. Very little is learned inthe actual plantation house. Most of the tour is centered on granite walls with names of slaves from Louisiana. The walls repeated the quotes from some of these individuals and after a while you lost interest in reading. If this is a museum, then advertise it as a museum, not as the Whitney plantation.

This plantation had only been open for 3 weeks when we took the tour. It was not worth what we paid for the tour. Our guide was knowledgeable. She knew the facts. The main house and grounds was still under reinvention. It was 22.00 per adult. Not worth it!

The Whitney Plantation is a recently restored 1800's plantation that has been painstakingly reimagined as a museum of slavery. It just opened on Dec 7-here are some links to it's story:http://www.theneworleansadvocate.com/news/10475371-123/no-lawyer-transforms-whitney-plantationAnd another story on some controversy:http://thelensnola.org/2014/12/01/slavery-museum-at-upriver-plantation-stirs-controversy-on-both-sides-of-racial-divide/Our experience is that this new Museum of Slavery should not be missed. It is less than an hour drive from New Orleans. Some of the highlights include slave sculptures, a wall of slave names and recollections collected during the 1930's from slaves who were still alive. The plantation house itself is 1700's era creole and has been well restored. Most of the slave buildings have been brought in from elsewhere. Holding a dozen slaves in the iron jail in over 100 degree whether is unimaginable.Although the place is in private hands, there is nothing like this in the US. It is a tragedy we have not been adequately capable of facing up to our history with public funds. I don't recommend the Big River Rd on either side of the Mississippi-it is desolate, pocked by dozens of refineries, and a few remaining acres of sugar cane. Get up and back as quickly as possible, on I-10.

We just visited Whitney Plantation today, just a few days after it opened. The tour was very interesting, and the memorials to thousands of slaves are very moving. The tour was almost 2 hours long, and I would have enjoyed more!