Return and Get It: Developing McLeod Plantation as a Shared Space of Historical Memory

• Published in: Southern cultures 2017-06, Vol.23 (2), p.75-96
• Main Author: Graves, Brian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: African Americans; Antebellum period; Company business management; Economic conditions; Economic forecasts; ESSAY; Historic buildings & sites; Memory; Oral history; Plantations; Race; Statistical data
• ISSN: 1068-8218; 1534-1488; 1534-1488
• DOI: 10.1353/scu.2017.0015

On April 25th, 2015, the Charleston County Parks and Recreation ' Commission (ccPRc) officially opened the McLeod Plantation , Historic Site (mphs) on James Island, South Carolina. At first glance, the site appears to have the usual trappings of other plantation tourist destinations in the region: a Spanish moss-draped oak alley leading to the antebellum "big house," guided tours that wind through a rustic landscape dotted with plantation outbuildings, interpretive signs, and a gift shop. Yet there is an important distinction between McLeod and its contemporaries: under the ownership and management of the ccPRc, McLeod has become the first public plantation site in the Charleston region that is primarily dedicated to preserving and interpreting African American history. Within its public history program, "The Transition to Freedom," the ccPRc offers guided African American history tours along an interpretive pathway that includes exhibits at the plantation's six slave cabins, a large cemetery, gin house, barn, kitchen, dairy, and "main house," as well as a mobile tour application through which visitors can access an interactive self-guided tour of the site. To explain the ccprc's larger purpose for preserving and interpreting McLeod, the mobile app's introduction depicts the Sankofa, a West African symbol that signifies "return and get it," and states: For many, [Sankofa] symbolizes the importance of remembering the past to understand the present with the hope of shaping a better future. To understand how the enslaved and their descendants transitioned to freedom while here and how the McLeods redefined themselves in a changing world is to glimpse powerful forces that continue to influence us. Beginning at the Welcome Center, explore this place set aside for remembrance through the words and images of those who came before. Discover how McLeod Plantation of years past helped to shape who we are today.