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February 27, 2008

Old Governor’s Mansion holds new tour

Lives of state leaders’ slaves explored

Scott Teague

From under the rug to out in the open, slavery at the Old Governor’s Mansion is being explored and explained during a new tour of Georgia’s old seat of power.

Research about the lives of the men and women enslaved by Georgia’s leaders was compiled by Deitrah Taylor, a graduate assistant at Georgia College & State University. Taylor took research conducted by Matthew Davis, assistant curator of education, and Jim Turner, director, and helped organize the tour telling stories about the lives of slaves and the complex relationship between master and servant.

“In high school, we were taught about slavery, but the slaves didn’t seem very human, and neither did the masters at the top,” Taylor said. “There did exist these relationships between master and slave, but they weren’t the “Gone With The Wind” stereotypes that we are familiar with. They were very real, complex relationships.”

Slaves cooked the food, cared for the governor’s children, served guests and even made the bricks of the house in which they would serve.

For years, the issue of slavery and its use at the mansion was skirted, Davis said.

“For many years in the museum and house museum business, the issue of slavery was brushed under the rug as one of those dirty secrets no one wanted to talk about. The trend in recent years, and one we at the Old Governor’s Mansion have been on the forefront of, has been to interpret the slave heritage of the house,” Davis said.

Much of what researchers know about the lives of slaves in the mansion comes from the letters of one governor’s wife, Elizabeth Grisham Brown. The first lady’s family was close to her slaves, the letters indicate, but her family’s actions seem at odds with such closeness.

The family that hosted slaves for Christmas dinner also abused slaves to enforce discipline.

“Gov. Brown beat one of his slaves just to show that he was the master. These are the things we want to bring to the forefront to show that,” Davis said. “We want to showcase slavery for what it was here at the mansion.”

But slaves like those who were the family’s nursemaid caring for the governor’s children and the steward who had the widest latitude of the mansion’s slaves often had been with the governor’s family for years before and after living in the mansion, Turner said.

“The house could not have functioned without the slave staff. They were an integral part of the family, and their stories need to be told,” Turner said.

Taylor, who’s working on her thesis about a plantation in Sparta, fell in love with Southern history and finds special purpose in telling the history and stories of slaves in Georgia’s Old Governor’s Mansion.

“As an African-American I think it’s very important to discover the human aspect of the slaves. We’re familiar with stereotypes that portray slaves as not being very smart, but you had to be intelligent to work in a place like the Old Governor’s Mansion,” Taylor said. “You had to be intelligent, to use your time wisely and [know] how to treat your masters.”

The slavery tour is by special request only. For more information about the tour or about the regular historical tour, call 445-4545.

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