Last updated: November 27, 2024
Place
Unearthing the Past
Christy Hoover
Quick Facts
Location:
Derry, LA
Amenities
1 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits
The Quarters was home to generations of workers, enslaved and tenant, but the cabins give few hints into the lives of the people. Oral traditions, historical papers, and archeological artifacts provide insight into life in Quarters. Archeologists have conducted studies of the Quarters since the National Park Service acquired the land in 1997. Excavations have recovered a variety of household objects, food remains, and personal items from the 19th and 20th centuries.
These items made, used, and discarded by African Americans during their daily lives are clues to how residents lived and adapted to enslavement and the freedom that followed. Some artifacts demonstrate their function quite clearly, but the function and meaning of others can be less clear. Future excavations may uncover answers to remaining questions. What stories do these objects of the past tell?
This bottle was buried in front of the door to a room added in the 1900s. Gamblers used Hoyt's Cologne for luck, and oral history relates that the room was sometimes used for gambling.
The Code Noir (Black Code) regulated the life, death, purchase, treatment, and religion of enslaved people in the French colonies. The code ruled that all the enslaved be baptized as Catholics. Compare these "Miraculous Medals." The image of the Virgin Mary on a medal found in a cabin appears to have been altered.
These items made, used, and discarded by African Americans during their daily lives are clues to how residents lived and adapted to enslavement and the freedom that followed. Some artifacts demonstrate their function quite clearly, but the function and meaning of others can be less clear. Future excavations may uncover answers to remaining questions. What stories do these objects of the past tell?
This bottle was buried in front of the door to a room added in the 1900s. Gamblers used Hoyt's Cologne for luck, and oral history relates that the room was sometimes used for gambling.
The Code Noir (Black Code) regulated the life, death, purchase, treatment, and religion of enslaved people in the French colonies. The code ruled that all the enslaved be baptized as Catholics. Compare these "Miraculous Medals." The image of the Virgin Mary on a medal found in a cabin appears to have been altered.