Genisis Balico
Professor Rainville
INTD108
10 October 2012
Sweet
Briar College Slave Cabin
The
Sweet Briar Slave Cabin although small in size is significant in its history. The
cabin has a history that not only connects it to American history but to the
history of Sweet Briar. The Sweet Briar Slave Cabin is dated back to 1825 and
Sweet Briar is the only college to have a slave cabin on its campus, making the
college even more distinctive. The slave cabin is part of the few slave cabins
left in Virginia; there are four or five slave cabins left in Amherst County,
Virginia (Recycling a Campus Relic Ann Marshall Whitley 2). It first belonged
to Logan Anderson; the overseer of the plantation while Indiana Fletcher
Williams owned it. The house then went to Sterling Jones Sr. an employee of
Sweet Briar who made the bricks that make up Sweet Briar; it eventually became
the Alumnae House, then the student wreck room, and eventually a shack/museum.
Before coming to
Sweet Briar I had absolutely had no knowledge of slave cabins, except knowing
that they were small and didn’t really care to learn much about them. I would
have fallen into the category of people who could’ve cared less about whether
or not this small structure, part of an abhorrent time in American history, was
maintained. Being from the north I looked at this subject and everything
associated with it objectively, because who remembers something if it isn’t constantly
present. It wasn’t until I came to Virginia and learned of the history of the
cabin and through the discussions in American Economies in the 19th
century that I realized how significant this seemingly insignificant cabin
really was.
It is only
a small one-room cabin that hasn’t been significantly remodeled, just fitted
with electricity and the essentials for heating. Detailed like this it might
just seem like a small insignificant structure but there is more to this cabin.
It is its history that is part of what makes Sweet Briar distinct and it adds
to the value of Sweet Briar. Not only is it because it is a rarity for a
college to have an actual relic like a slave cabin but because it is part of
Sweet Briars identity. It is a reminder of Sweet Briars roots. It was a piece
of land that was founded on the backs of others forced labor. Now it is a
college, which supports women from all walks of life and ethnic background in
getting a degree. This part to me is perhaps the most personal. To know that
when this cabin originally went up it would have been unthinkable for a young
Latino woman to go to college is something that I can barely imagine; it makes
me proud to see that this country has come such a long way and that it can bee
seen and represented by this one small building on the Sweet Briar campus. This
cabin is a reminder of just how far we’ve come. Its history and what it
represents can’t have a price tag attached to it.
This
leads into what I think should be done with the cabin. I believe the cabin
should be made into a museum and a place where students of Sweet Briar can
excavate to find the still unanswered questions associated with the topic of the
slave cabins on the Sweet Briar campus. Such as where the other cabins were located,
where was the road for the slaves, and what did the slaves of Sweet Briar and
the owners’ value, questions like these. From an observation of mine since the
cabin is behind the house of the original owners and the owners after that,
there must have been a great deal of trust because of its close proximity. One
wouldn’t have a house put so closely to one’s home if there was distrust. It is
questions and observations like these that are still unanswered and that the
cabin may still be able to provide an answer for.
The museum aspect
of my idea is that it should be opened to the Sweet Briar community and its visitors
as a source of knowledge on what slave cabins were like. In the cabin there
would be some of the artifacts that were originally found there to help entice
visitors to come visit the museum. Perhaps in order to generate interest in the
cabin there would be more opportunities for students to explore the cabin as
opposed to now where there isn’t really a chance to do this. That is why
turning the cabin into a museum would be a great idea. It would allow students
and visitors a chance to learn the history of the school and to have a primary
source, themselves, of what these cabins were like.
As I mentioned it is a part of not only American
History and but it is also part of Sweet Briars identity. I truly believe that
this cabin will never be left to decay because I believe that others believe
and see the cabin in a similar light as I do. I believe that we should never
forget. To forget the past or shove it into the corners of our memories is just
as bad as acting as if it never happened at all. Which is why this cabin should
be turned into a museum.
As
a northerner who tends to forget the ugly truth I am grateful that there is the
Sweet Briar Slave Cabin. Now that I am at Sweet Briar this cabin has become
more personal. I am now apart of Sweet Briar and it’s history. It is for this
reason that I can look at the cabin and all it represents and feel pride in not
only my school but in my country. There is still so much to be discovered and
discussed with this cabin. Now that I know more about this historical eighteen
by fifteen foot cabin I find it amusing that it has much more value then its
size would let people believe.
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