Beyond the Fields

In recognition of Black History Month, Middleton Place will host a special presentation of Spiritual Songs with Dr. Naima Johnston-Bush at Eliza’s House, an 1870 freedman’s cabin, at 12-3 p.m. on Sunday, February 15. Dr. Johnston-Bush’s presentation will focus on the Negro Spiritual as a historical American art form and explore its impact on different musical genres from the 1600s to the present. As spirituals are sung, the stories and little known facts behind them bring each song to life.
Additionally, guests are invited to participate in daily interactive programming in the Living History Stableyards throughout the entire month of February. Daily programming includes “Beyond the Fields” Walking Tours and the exhibit Beyond the Fields: Slavery at Middleton Place that focuses on the daily lives of slaves and their work.
The Beyond the Fields Walking Tour, an important part of the Middleton Place Foundation’s everyday interpretive programming, will be offered daily at 11 a.m.-1 p.m. The one-hour interpretive tour focuses on the enslaved people and freedmen who lived and worked at Middleton Place and their contributions to the Low Country culture.
Trained interpreters discuss domestic life in the swept yard of Eliza’s House, rice cultivation at the Mill and Demonstration Rice Field where Carolina Gold rice grows May through September, and religion and spirituality at the Plantation Chapel and Slave Cemetery. Interpreters also discuss the role of the slaves in creating and maintaining the landscaped Gardens and in providing domestic service for the Middleton family.
A permanent study exhibit, Beyond the Fields: Slavery at Middleton Place is mounted in the eastern half of Eliza’s House and focuses on the daily lives of slaves and their work beyond the fields in the Middleton plantation system. The exhibit is richly illustrated with rare images, archeological artifacts and historical documents, and presents the Foundation’s latest research. Stories of individuals, recreated from family letters and documents are told and more than 2,800 names of Middleton slaves can be searched by visitors.
All Black History Month programs are included in regular Gardens, Stableyards, and House admission. For more information, please call 856-6020 or visit the website at www.middletonplace.org.