Behind the Big House welcomes visitors next week on April 4, 5, & 6, 2024, to Holly Springs to participate in an historical and cultural onsite experience focused on the era of slavery in northern Mississippi.
“We encourage you to walk the pathway to another perspective with us,“ invites Sally Godard of the Rosa Foundation which has owned the property since 2022.
This event is a successful example of community and university collaboration that benefits a diverse population as it works to tell a more inclusive history of the region. University of Mississippi professors, Dr. Jodi Skipper and Dr. Carolyn Freiwald, provide expertise in the humanities fields and bring students to participate with community volunteers in field research and teaching.
An educational activity for the whole family, we highlight the stories of the men, women, and children who were enslaved in an urban setting not far from the cotton fields and its laborers who ensured a strong economy for the region during the mid-1800s. In 1860, Marshall County’s population included 11,384 free people (nearly all were white) and 17,439 enslaved people.
The setting of Behind the Big House is on the original property of Hugh and Elizabeth Craft at 184 South Memphis Street, Holly Springs, which was a burgeoning commercial city for the sale and transport of cotton. The Craft’s “big house” was built in 1851, more than a decade after they arrived in Mississippi from Georgia.
The Quarters, built in the late 1840s, housed nine enslaved people by 1860: three adults, two teens, and four children. Nationally recognized historical interpreters as well as local experts will demonstrate the roles of cook, laundress, and brickmakers, vital functions in a large household and community.
This year, Jordan Wimby, chef and culinary preservationist from Chicago, will return to cook over the outdoor fire. She is well studied and experienced in the history and culture of traditional soul food, most of which came from west Africa, that fed the South beginning in the 17th century. Jordan and her mentor, author Michael Twitty, agree that food is a key ingredient to personal identity and maintaining a link to their ancestors for the African diaspora.
Joseph McGill, executive director of The Slave Dwelling Project, has participated in Behind the Big House since its early years. He and Herb Frazier, co-authors of the recently published, Sleeping with the Ancestors: How I Followed the Footsteps of Slavery, will participate in the Oxford Conference of the Book prior joining the team at BTBH. The former Coordinator of History and Culture at the Magnolia Plantation in Charleston, South Carolina, Joseph is proud of his Gullah Geechee ancestors. As Peter H. Wood of Duke University notes, “Few have done more than this determined South Carolinian to heal the scars of enslavement and lead us back—all of us—to the generations of ancestors whose unpaid labor shaped America.”
Professional storyteller and traveling recorder of Black history, Tammy Gibson, will once again bring the difficult task of a 19th century laundress to reality as she manages fabric, chemicals, and weather through physically demanding work. Tammy has travelled extensively both nationally and internationally to honor Black ancestors and document monuments and markers of prominent African Americans who have often been forgotten in our country’s history. You can participate in Sankofa TravelHer’s journey on her website and Facebook page.
This year, local residents, Dale DeBerry and Wayne Jones, are building a model kiln to add to their demonstration of brickmaking skills by enslaved persons who truly built the town of Holly Springs. With clay dug directly from the property, a brick-lined cellar became the foundation of the 1851 house which has been repainted to simulate the native sand and clay that colored the original stucco finish.
Genealogy of Black ancestors is a growing part of Behind the Big House. Next week, Deborah Davis, Beverly Bevel, and Rkhty Jones will share their poignant stories that accompany the search for their enslaved ancestors from Marshall County, Mississippi.
During the mornings of Thursday, April 4 and Friday, April 5, nearly 400 schoolchildren will take a field trip to the Quarters and Big House. The hosts and participants hope to enhance the curiosity of a new generation in their history and culture.
Community nonprofits, Rosa Foundation and North Mississippi Roots & Wings, collaborate to bring you the program of Behind the Big House. They are grateful for the work of Preserve Marshall County and Holly Springs during the last decade “to tell the full story” of an antebellum town in northern Mississippi. Sally Godard and Ron Olisar, officers of the Rosa Foundation which bought the property in 2022, are committed to expanding the important role that BTBH can provide in this community.
On Thursday, April 4 from 5:30 –7:30 pm, the hosts invite you to attend the David B. Person Welcoming Reception and Soul Supper. Please RSVP by email, sallygodard@earthlink.net, for more information and location.
Behind the Big House is very grateful for the ongoing programmatic and financial support from the Mississippi Humanities Council, Mississippi Hills Heritage Area Alliance, University of Mississippi, and the Holly Springs Tourism Bureau.
Behind the Big House
Dates: Thursday, April 4 (9 am – 4 pm)
Friday, April 5 (9 am – 5 pm)
Saturday, April 6 (9 am – 5 pm)
Location: Hugh & Eleanor Craft Historic House
184 South Memphis Street
Holly Springs, Mississippi 38635
Presented/Hosted by: Rosa Foundation, North Mississippi Roots & Wings
Financial Sponsorship: Mississippi Humanities Council, Rosa Foundation, Mississippi Hills Heritage Area Alliance, University of Mississippi (Diversity & Community Engagement, Dept of Sociology and Anthropology, Center for the Study of Southern Culture), Holly Springs Tourism Bureau.
