At this time of year, many of us will reflect on what “family” means to us. We are likely to flip through antique photo albums, cook old family recipes, and share stories as we reminisce and think about legacy and the impact that people from our past have had on our lives and the lives of others in our communities. The Stagville Memorial Project in Durham, North Carolina is embracing this work of preserving, sharing, researching, and uplifting descendant stories year-round.
In 2024, the Stagville Memorial Project received a $5,000 grant from North Carolina Humanities to support their exhibit project “Making A Way Out of No Way”. The funding helped graduate students write and develop narratives about descendants of Stagville Plantation for a digital exhibit. Using these narratives and other collected research, photos, maps, and more, the exhibit explores the contributions that these descendants made to the early Durham area. These narratives will also inform the creation of public art in Durham.
We connected with Vanessa Hines, Founding Executive Director for the Stagville Memorial Project, to learn more about why preserving local family history and uplifting stories is important.
Tell us about the Stagville Memorial Project.
Vanessa: The Stagville Memorial Project was formed in Durham, North Carolina in 2022 with a mission to establish public art in downtown Durham that highlights the contributions of Stagville descendants on Durham’s community and culture. At one-point, Stagville Plantation was North Carolina’s largest plantation. The plantation existed from the mid-1700’s up until Emancipation. Approximately 3,000 people were enslaved there over that long period of time. At the time of Emancipation there were about 900 people who were enslaved there. After Emancipation, many stayed to sharecrop, but others left the plantation to establish what are now known as Durham’s historically Black neighborhoods. Our study of this history helps us create a better future, because we have a more informed view of what has happened in the past.
How did your research inform the direction of your work?
Vanessa: As part of our initial mission to create public art, we needed to do research. Humanities research was so important. We wanted to find out what contributions those newly freed folks made to what is now Durham. For example, we learned more about people who were enslaved at Stagville who went on to purchase land that would become Hayti, a famous historically Black neighborhood that was destroyed during the Urban Renewal process that made way for the Durham Freeway. Prior to our research we didn’t know that. We pulled up deeds and we were able to cross-reference the names on those deeds with the names of people at Stagville thanks to the Cameron Papers. This research directly informed the direction of our public art project and will give the artist a better idea of the stories we want to share with our community.
What did your research entail?
Vanessa: We hired Bebe Miller, a graduate student from North Carolina Central University and De’Ivyion Drew and Sarah Waugh, graduate students at UNC Chapel Hill and, using a list of archives and humanities experts, they started doing descendant and plantation research. At UNC Chapel Hill’s Wilson Library, they came across the Cameron Papers. The Bennehan-Cameron families owned the Stagville plantation. In these papers they found things like the names of the folks who were enslaved, ledgers, letters from the family to other people, and more. Our student researchers also went to North Carolina Central’s archives and through those records they were able to work on genealogical charts. As the search developed, several themes emerged, and we had gathered deep information on five to seven descendants so that we could write about their lives. We needed more funding to keep doing this work, so that is when we reached out to North Carolina Humanities. Thanks to the grant NC Humanities awarded us, our researchers were able to continue their work and began to organize the research and write the script for the exhibit. The exhibit was designed by Maya Brooks and now lives on its own website and on the Durham County Library’s website. This work also could not have been pulled off without Lauren Panny & Beth Weiss – archival librarians at the North Carolina Collection, and Ciera Williams and Jana Bradford – two Small Business Center Librarians at the Durham County Library.
What can people see in the “Making A Way Out of No Way” digital exhibit?
Vanessa: The exhibit is broken up into a couple of different parts. First, there is an overview about Stagville Plantation to provide context and there are a few photos of what the Stagville historic site looks like today. One of the most moving photos that we have is of a chimney that is attached to one of the enslaved families quarters at Horton Grove. Because the bricks were made by the enslaved, you can see fingerprints and even some footprints pushed into the bricks. There are even smaller fingerprints, which we assume are children’s. This is so meaningful for people who see it because they are witnessing a physical imprint left by someone who lived before them. Other parts of the exhibit showcase early Durham neighborhood formations, descendants and their stories, including photos, in some cases a family tree, and the impact they made on the local culture, politics, economy, and more. A big part of the work that we are doing is dependent on living Stagville descendants and their input because we can’t do cultural heritage work without the people who are closest to it. Stagville descendants have been very gracious with their time, energies, and the sharing of their stories.
How can people support this work?
Vanessa: If there is anyone who is interested in connecting with us, or have comments or questions about our exhibit, feel free to email info@stagvillememorialproject.org.
If there are descendants interested in finding more information about their family’s relationship with Stagville Plantation, in depth information about Stagville, or have genealogy questions, please reach out to Historic Stagville Site staff at stagville@dncr.nc.gov. Historic Stagville Site staff are incredibly knowledgeable and are the foremost experts on those types of questions.
The Stagville Memorial Project will also host community engagement sessions in 2025 to get people’s input on the public art that is planned for construction in 2027, so please keep up to date with our plans by visiting our website https://www.stagvillememorialproject.org/. Donations are also always appreciated.
Note: Historic Stagville is a state historic site that includes the remnants of the one of the largest plantations in North Carolina. The Stagville Memorial Project is a nonprofit working to bring lesser-known histories about formerly enslaved people at Stagville Plantation to wider audiences through public art.
About North Carolina Humanities’ Grantee Spotlights: NC Humanities’ Grantee Spotlights shine a light on the incredible work of our grantee partners, offering details about their funded project, and feature a Q&A with a team member(s) associated with the organization. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Photo Credits:
Cover Photo: The Horton House at Stagville. Image from Stagville State Historic Site. Courtesy of the Library of Congress ; Photo 1: Members of the Stagville Memorial Project Team. From L to R. Ricky L. Hart, Stagville Descendant, Maya Brooks, Exhibit Designer, De’Ivyion Drew, Sarah Waugh and Bebe Miller, Exhibit Researchers and Writers, Vanessa Hines, Founding Executive Director of The Stagville Memorial Project and Dr. Charles Johnson, Exhibit Advisor. Courtesy of the Stagville Memorial Project. ; Photo 2: Portrait of Dock Edwards (1850-1944). Courtesy of Beverly Evans ; Photo 3: Hand and Footprints left in the bricks at The Horton House at Stagville. Courtesy of the Stagville Memorial Project. ; Photo 4: Photo of James Revis (born December 8, 1873) with family. Courtesy of Nicol Jackson ; Photo 5: Courtesy of Ricky Hart
