Slave Cabins
Voices From the Past
The slave quarters were a place to find identity and strength through family, faith, and shared experiences.
Many American traditions originate from the daily activities and beliefs of enslaved people. Practices that survive today revolve around cooking, singing, dancing, worshiping, and healing. While daily work was individually focused, life in the slave quarters revolved around family and community.
Stories of slave home life lay in the few words left behind in narrative and interviews of former slaves.
...after preparing and eating their evening meal they gathered around a cabin to sing and moan songs seasoned with African melody. Then to the tune of an old fiddle they danced a dance called "the green corn dance"...
James Johnson, 1900s
We used to slip off in de woods in de old days on Sunday evening way down in de swamps to sing and pray to our own liking. We prayed for dis day of freedom.
Alice Sewell, 1900s
Marker is on Palmetto Avenue 2.1 miles north of Fort George Road, on the right when traveling north.
Courtesy hmdb.org
