The Middleton Place Plantation Stableyards is a living outdoor museum interpreting 18th and 19th century plantation life every day. But on Nov. 15 and 16, the Plantation Stableyards activities will be greatly expanded when the national historic landmark presents Plantation Days — a Harvest-Time Experience where more than 40 costumed interpreters and volunteers demonstrate the activities that helped sustain a South Carolina plantation. Programming will include sugarcane processing, cooking, basket weaving, tool making, and hide tanning, as well as a new presentation “Her-story: Women’s Work,” a ladies camp focusing on work done by women of the 18th and 19th centuries.
“This year we are trying to give a more detailed experience of plantation life, particularly that of women,” says Middleton stableyards interpretive manager Jeff Neale. The Colonial Ladies Society has partnered with Middleton Place to bring “Her-story” to life with various demonstrations, including carding/spinning wool and cotton, textile dyeing, soap making, natural medicines, laundry, and food preservation. Additionally, presentations on skills of men, such as cooper/carpenter, hide tanning, blacksmith, horn and tool making will be given, as well as, hands-on activities, including pinch pots and candle making.
“The interpretive framework of the Gardens and House Museum is told primarily from the Middleton family’s point-of-view,” says Neale. “The goal of Plantation Days is also to present a microcosm of daily plantation life in the Stableyards through the lens of the enslaved Africans and African Americans who were here, and illustrate the necessary means for sustaining a working and active plantation.”
Interpreters designed the programming to reflect primary and secondary sources from the Middleton Place archives. The Middletons, like many Low Country planters, kept meticulous records on their holdings and their agricultural pursuits. Account books, journals and letters of the Middleton family have been thoroughly researched, and Plantation Days activities reflect the day-to-day routines of life. While the primary source of income was Carolina Gold Rice, their plantations also served as the building supply store of the day – manufacturing implements and materials needed for farming, cooking, construction, and textiles.
Plantation Days will also incorporate a first-person interpreter who will give presentations on Gullah culture. Sharon Cooper-Murray, a professional Gullah storyteller and historian, will give performances relating traditional Gullah folktales and Gullah culture to add to the authenticity and educational opportunities to visitors during Plantation Days.
Plantation Days will take place from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Nov. 15 and 16. Free with paid admission to Middleton Place, located at4300 Ashley River Road. For more information visit www.middletonplace.org.
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