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2024 52 Card Project: Week 25: Juneteenth
Jun. 28th, 2024 01:07 pmI took last week off work and continued my personal project to investigate things I am not familiar with in my city. Wednesday was Juneteenth, and after seeing an ad on Facebook, I decided to go to see Fort Snelling because they were doing a special tour for Juneteenth about the history of slavery at the Fort.
I am glad I went. The interpreters were friendly and very willing to answer all my questions. I had a long talk with one about the sorts of things imported from St. Louis, Missouri for the general store, and with another about 19th and early 20th-century medical technology. The tour included a lot of information about Dred Scott, whose stay at the Fort resulted in probably the worst Supreme Court decision of all time. The Court decided that African-Americans had no rights that anyone need respect, a decision that eventually led to the Civil War.
One of the most moving displays was the table set in the Fort commander's house. Each plate bore the name of a slave who had been forced to work at the fort, in a territory and later a state which was supposedly free. The interpreter explained out the US Army helped subsidize slavery, paying officers a per diem for 'servants' who were actually slaves, making it easy for the masters to pocket the difference.
Very interesting, and very glad I went. The museum at the visitor center was excellent, too, and I think did a great job of illuminating the history of the Fort while including the painful stories of the African-American and Native American experiences to which it was tied.
Image description: A view of Fort Snelling from a distance with a title "Juneteenth: Freedom Day" displayed in the sky over the fort. Center: A dining table set with a tablecloth and plates. Lower center: a closeup of one of the plates, with the name of a slave, "Jane Glasgow," with the name of her master (Zachary Taylor) underneath with a date: May 1828 - July 1829. Lower right corner: a laundress pounds clothes in a washtub. Behind her is a cavalry saddle. Lower left: an outstretched hand holds a few clarinet keys (replicas of artifacts found by archeologists behind the quarters that housed the military band). Behind it: a Civil War Union uniform.
Juneteenth
Click on the links to see the 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021 52 Card Project galleries.
I am glad I went. The interpreters were friendly and very willing to answer all my questions. I had a long talk with one about the sorts of things imported from St. Louis, Missouri for the general store, and with another about 19th and early 20th-century medical technology. The tour included a lot of information about Dred Scott, whose stay at the Fort resulted in probably the worst Supreme Court decision of all time. The Court decided that African-Americans had no rights that anyone need respect, a decision that eventually led to the Civil War.
One of the most moving displays was the table set in the Fort commander's house. Each plate bore the name of a slave who had been forced to work at the fort, in a territory and later a state which was supposedly free. The interpreter explained out the US Army helped subsidize slavery, paying officers a per diem for 'servants' who were actually slaves, making it easy for the masters to pocket the difference.
Very interesting, and very glad I went. The museum at the visitor center was excellent, too, and I think did a great job of illuminating the history of the Fort while including the painful stories of the African-American and Native American experiences to which it was tied.
Image description: A view of Fort Snelling from a distance with a title "Juneteenth: Freedom Day" displayed in the sky over the fort. Center: A dining table set with a tablecloth and plates. Lower center: a closeup of one of the plates, with the name of a slave, "Jane Glasgow," with the name of her master (Zachary Taylor) underneath with a date: May 1828 - July 1829. Lower right corner: a laundress pounds clothes in a washtub. Behind her is a cavalry saddle. Lower left: an outstretched hand holds a few clarinet keys (replicas of artifacts found by archeologists behind the quarters that housed the military band). Behind it: a Civil War Union uniform.
Click on the links to see the 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021 52 Card Project galleries.