Peering Into Plantation Life - A Visit to Oak Alley Plantation
Peering Into Plantation Life - A Visit to Oak Alley Plantation
By: a.d. elliott | Take the Back Roads - Art and Other Odd Adventures
Dear Henry,
We took a tour of Oak Alley Plantation, and it was a powerful experience, beautiful on the surface and deeply unsettling beneath it.
The plantation, originally known as Bon Séjour, was owned by Jacques Télesphore Roman. For much of its history, it functioned as a sugarcane plantation, an enterprise entirely dependent on enslaved labor. After exchanging another property for this land from his brother-in-law, Valcour Aime, Roman began construction on the main house in 1837. Enslaved people built the structure, which was completed in 1839.
Jacques Roman died in 1848, and after his death, the plantation began to decline. His heirs struggled under mounting debt, and the economic devastation of the Civil War ultimately made the operation unsustainable. Over time, ownership passed through several hands, none of whom could maintain the property. By the early twentieth century, the house stood vacant and in a state of deterioration.
In 1925, Oak Alley entered a new chapter. Andrew Stewart purchased the property as a gift for his wife, Josephine, who undertook an extensive restoration of the house. Electricity, plumbing, and other modern conveniences were added, stabilizing the structure and preserving its architectural features. The Stewarts operated the land as a cattle ranch for decades, later reintroducing sugarcane cultivation, this time without enslaved labor. They were the final private residents of the house.
When Josephine Stewart died in 1972, ownership passed to the Oak Alley Foundation, which opened the house and grounds to the public. Since then, it has served as a historic site, offering guided tours that address not only the architecture and lifestyle of the plantation’s owners but also the lives of the enslaved people there.
The tour is absolutely worth taking. Our guide offered an unvarnished account of what life would have been like on the plantation, speaking plainly about both privilege and cruelty. While the house and oak-lined avenue are undeniably beautiful, the presence of the slave quarters prevents any romantic reading of the place.
This period of history is jarring to me. It carries the outward trappings of French and English aristocracy, but beneath that elegant façade is something profoundly ugly. I struggle to understand how anyone could have believed it acceptable to own another human being.
It is a history I need to learn more about, and one that should not be softened for comfort.
____________________________________________________________________
About the Author
a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller traveling through life
She shares her journeys at Take the Back Roads, explores new reads at Rite of Fancy, and highlights U.S. military biographies at Everyday Patriot.
You can also browse her online photography gallery at shop.takethebackroads.com.
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