Jeff O’Donnell sent in the garden picture below, taken from the “Big House” at Oak Alley Plantation, a National Historic Landmark on the west bank of the Mississippi outside New Orleans. Oak Alley, a sugar plantation was built by and relied on enslaved men, women and children. One of the Conversation Series (in which the staff offers a variety of talks on all things Oak Alley) focuses on some of the individuals who were owned and kept on the plantation, their lives and living conditions. It also includes a look into life after emancipation, as laborers continued to live in the increasingly squalid housing until the 20th century.
Photo by Jeff O’Donnell