THE ONLY PLANTATION MUSEUM IN LOUISIANA WITH A FOCUS ON SLAVERY 

Wallace, Louisiana - May 31, 2016-

The Whitney Plantation opened to the public in December 2014 as the only plantation museum in Louisiana with a focus on slavery. Whitney Plantation Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places and offers visitors a look at the "Other Side of Plantation Life". Here visitors learn the story of slavery as they experience a compelling and authentic presentation of Louisiana slavery through guided tours of this 18th century plantation.

Less than an hour outside of New Orleans, National Geographic Traveler called the Whitney Plantation, " The Plantation Every American Should  Visit. "

In its first 16 months, Whitney Plantation welcomed over 53,000 visitors and has been covered by over 100 national and international press outlets, as well as being the subject of several documentaries. A six minute video by The Atlantic, has been viewed over 15 million times on their Facebook page.

On site is the oldest detached kitchen in Louisiana, the last surviving French Creole Barn in the United States and The Big House, considered one of the earliest and best preserved Creole plantation houses standing on River Road.

John Cummings, who purchased the property in 1998, is passionate that Whitney serve as a place of education, memory, and respect to the people enslaved in the U.S. South.

"When you leave here, you're not going to be the same person who came in," says Cummings.

In addition to preserved historic buildings, Whitney has built several modern memorials to educate visitors on slavery, including The Wall of Honor, which presents the names of the people who were enslaved on Whitney Plantation, The Gwendolyn Midlo Hall Allées which is 18 walls of granite slabs recording the names of 107,000 people enslaved in Louisiana before 1820, and The Field of Angels, which provides a memorial dedicated to the 2,200 Louisiana slave children who died in St. John the Baptist Parish between the years 1823 and1863.

"The history of slavery should not only be the history of deportation and hard labor in the plantations. Beyond these painful memories, we should always dig deep enough to find out how Africans contributed tremendously to the making of Southern culture and American identity." Ibrahima Seck, Academic Director Whitney Plantation and author of Bouki Fait Gombo, A History of the Slave Community of Habitation Haydel (Whitney Plantation).

About Whitney Plantation

Whitney Plantation www.whitneyplantation.com is located on the historic River Road, less than an hour from New Orleans, at 5099 Hwy. 18 Wallace, Louisiana.

Through the use of restored buildings, memorials, museum exhibits, artwork and hundreds of first-person slave narratives recorded during the Great Depression, visitors are presented with the other side of plantation life, one that honors the lives and perseverance of Louisiana's enslaved people.

90 minute, guided tours are offered hourly from 10:00AM to 3:00PM. Closed Tuesdays.

Media Contact:              Laura Amann     LAmann@whitneyplantation.com