In the Shadows of the Big House

Stephen Small is professor in the Department of African American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. His most recent book is 20 Questions and Answers on Black Europe. He is coauthor of Representations of Slavery: Race and Ideology in Southern Plantation Museums and coeditor of Global Mixed Race, New Perspectives on Slavery and Colonialism in the Caribbean, and Black Europe and the African Diaspora.

If you are interested in how the enslaved are represented, but more importantly presenced--made visible--at plantation museums, then this is the book for you.--Perry Carter, associate professor of geography at Texas Tech University Stephen Small focuses on a region that has fascinating and unique stories to tell, and with his commitment to Black voices and, equally vital, Black visions, he conveys a simple yet complex message: the integration of the slave's experience into the preservation of these historical sites is an ongoing struggle and one that preoccupies heritage tourism, particularly within the American South and pointedly within an era of protest and re-examination.--Catherine Clinton, author of Stepdaughters of History: Southern Women and the American Civil War In the Shadow of the Big House engages in an important discussion about changes in heritage tourism at plantation museums in a region that has received less study than other areas of the US South. Through the production and reproduction of historical narratives, provided especially through interpretation and exhibit text, this book explores how the inclusion of cabins and other places the enslaved lived and slept is not enough to elevate the voices of Black men and women whose stories have been marginalized in such spaces, preventing a full narrative from being presented to visitors (even if they may be reluctant to hear it). In the Shadow of the Big House is a contribution to the research on plantation tourism that will be beneficial to scholars and public historians, especially those working to explore the possibilities of going beyond basic inclusion and aim to truly elevate the "Black voices and Black visions" that shape our memory landscapes.--Katrina Stack "The Public Historan" Readers interested in how the tourism industry and public memory of the Civil War have developed will find In the Shadows of the Big House worth reading... This is an area ripe for study--in a moment when there seems to be increasing opportunity for academic and public historians to work together to advance popular understanding of history. This well-written and thoughtful book is an excellent start.--Cecily Nelson Zander "Emerging Civil War" In the Shadows of the Big House: Twenty-First-Century Antebellum Slave Cabins and Heritage Tourism in Louisiana is a fine contribution to the literature on plantation museums and tourism, pushing forward questions about more wholly representing Black stories and experiences in the pre- and post-Civil War US South.--Katrina Stack "The Public Historian"