What is a “Big House”? The planter’s house. It was given its name because it was usually the largest building.

What is a Slave? A person who is owned by another person. Not free.

What is Sugarcane?

A reed-like plant that holds syrupy juice which is turned into sugar.

OAK ALLEY FOUNDATION GRADES 6-9

Plantation Life Supplemental Materials for Oak Alley Plantation 6-9

What is a Plantation?

• A plantation was a very large farm that grew crops for sale such as cotton, tobacco or sugarcane.

• Plantations were owned by men and women called planters. They did not work in the fields, but instead owned slaves.

• Oak Alley was a sugarcane plantation. Owned by a French Creole family, the Romans, it was a large estate with a “Big House”, barns, sugar mill and 1200 acres of land planted in sugarcane.

THE ALLEY In front of the plantation’s “Big House” stands a row of Virginia Live Oaks. These trees are not only beautiful to look at, but the tunnel they form forces air from the river to the house, creating a continuous and cool breeze. While the alley trees are very old—approximately 300 years—the average age for a Live Oak is 600 years, making these only middle aged!

There are 28 trees, to match the 28 columns on the “Big House”.

Each tree in the alley is named after a person who owned Oak Alley Plantation at one time over its 170 year history. The largest tree, “Josephine Armstrong Stewart” has a girth of 30 ft in circumference and has a 127 ft. limb spread. Its namesake, Ms. Josephine, was the last owner of Oak Alley, and it was she who established the Oak Alley Foundation, which preserves the plantation today.

A green fern grows on the trunk and limbs of the trees. This is called the “Resurrection Fern.” It gets its name because it dies back when there is not enough water, but with one good rain, the fern “resurrects” by turning bright green again.

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THE PLANTATION BELL Before cell phones and walkie talkies, messages were sent across the huge plantation by ringing the plantation bell. It could be rung in a variety of ways: quickly, with long tolls, or by longer pauses between each ring—and each combination had a different message. Some of the reasons the bell was rung were to signal work time, lunch time, or raise the alarm if there was an emergency.

It is so loud, a person 2 miles away at the end of the plantation could still hear it.

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PLANTATION LIFE: OAK ALLEY GRADES 6-9

THE “BIG HOUSE” Jacques and Celina Roman’s mansion was built over 175 years ago by their slaves. It’s architecture has classical elements, and is also well-suited to Louisiana’s weather.

The Romans chose a popular 1800’s style called “Greek Revival.” Mimicking ancient Greek temples in Europe, it showed off how sophisticated and wealthy the Romans were as sugar planters. It included very large columns around the entire house and was very symmetrical by being a perfect square, both of which are characteristics of the Greek Revival Style.

However, there are aspects of the house that represent it is a house made for Louisiana. Thick brick walls were 16 inches thick were made thicker by a dense coating of plaster, keeping the hot weather out and cool air in. The Greek Revival columns form an enormous porch, or “gallery” around the entire house, additionally protecting the house from the sun, and creating a comfortable out-door space for the family to lounge. Lastly, all of the French doors are positioned directly across from each other. The breeze made by the alley of oaks was funneled inside the house by opening these doors, creating a kind of 19th century air conditioning system.

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SUGARCANE Oak Alley Plantation was a sugar plantation. Slaves weeded rows of sugarcane in the summer and harvested them in the early winter, a season known as grinding.

Since sugarcane needed to be harvested before it froze, the grinding season turned the plantation into a hive of activity and exhaustion. Slaves worked in 14 hour shifts, and there were no days off until the grinding season was complete.

After cutting the canes, loading them onto carts and bringing them to the sugarhouse, slaves used a series of machines to squeeze the sweet juice from the canes into large metal bowls called sugar kettles. They put the kettles over fires and cooked the juice until the moisture evaporated and only thing that remained was a syrup. This process was called a “Jamaican Train.” They packaged the sugar into barrels, and shipped it to New Orleans.

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Sugar kettle

Skimmer

SLAVERY Plantation life depended on slavery. Africans were brought to Louisiana and sold to planters until 1808, when importation was banned. After that, planters like the Romans bought slaves from other planters, or from slave traders bringing slaves from the east coast.

The Romans kept many slaves at Oak Alley plantation. Most worked in the sugarcane fields: planting, weeding, and harvesting. They were called “field slaves”; their days were long and very tiring and they were not paid for their work.

Other slaves worked in the “Big House” cooking the Roman family’s meals, doing their laundry and cleaning. These were called “house slaves”.

A third group of slaves worked on the plantation, called “craftsmen.” These were men who were taught a specific task, such as making barrels for the sugar, making shoes, or working as a blacksmith.

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THE ROMANS Jacques and Celina Roman were the Planters at Oak Alley Plantation and owned the estate, animals and slaves. They were considered French Creole because while Jacques was born in Louisiana, his grandparents came to Louisiana directly from France.

The Romans were very wealthy. From the luxurious “Big House” Jacques oversaw plantation operations, while Celina raised their children Louise, Octavie and Henri. Jacques and Celina brought in teachers to teach the children French and English, and the young Romans were never short of toys or amusements or visitors.

While the Romans lived at Oak Alley much of the time, they took many trips to New Orleans. There, the woman bought clothes and things for the house, while Jacques ordered machinery and materials for the sugarhouse. Because the trip was lengthy—it could take a day by steamboat—Jacques and Celina kept a house in the French Quarter. This way, they could visit with other elite French Creoles in addition to attending to their errands and business.

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Jacques Roman Celina Roman

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Slavery at Oak

Alley Exhibit

Enhanced Education Tour

Oak A

lley Plantation

Guided W

alking Tour ofH

istoric Grounds

Featuring:"French C

reole Life," "Alley of O

aks," "Slavery at O

ak Alley," "Sugarcane T

heater,""C

onfederate Com

manding O

fficer's Tent," and "Blacksm

ith Shop"

Visit us online:

Web: O

akAlleyPlantation.org

FaceBook: facebook.com

/OakA

lleyPlantationPinterest.com

/oakalley/all-about-oak-alley-plantation/

Vacherie, Louisiana • 800-44-ALLE

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Oak A

lley Foundation is a 501(c)(3) private non-profit trust organized and operated exclusively for charitable, literary and educational purposes. Its trustees are charged w

ith maintaining and preserving the m

ansion (Big

House) and surrounding tw

enty-five (25) acre National H

istoric Landmark site

for public exhibition as an historical monum

ent to the times and area in w

hich the property w

as built and for the instruction, education, enlightenment,

information, edification and cultural benefit of the citizens of the S

tate of Louisiana, the U

nited States and the public generally.

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Officer’s Tent

Ticket B

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Foundation Office

Alley of O

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Big H

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Picnic A

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New Orleans

Visitor Parking

Entrance

Mississippi River

SugarK

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Garçonnière

REST

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Sugarcane is a tropical, perennial grass that grows into 10 foot tall, 1 inch round stalks.

During planting season, A

ugust thru September, m

ature stalks of sugarcane are laid in rows

and covered. Each stalk consists of numerous joints w

ith buds which germ

inate shoots that produce the sugarcane crop. H

arvest occurs a full year later from O

ctober thru late D

ecember. Sugarcane rejuvenates after each harvest and produces 3 or 4 annual crops from

each planting. O

ak Alley Plantation w

as established as a sugarcane plantation, and the fields that surround our historic grounds are planted on private land by local farm

ers.

1820 Valcour A

ime

1836 Jacques T. Rom

an1866 John A

rmstrong

1867 John Arm

strong / Hubert

Bonzano1873 A

rmstrong / Bonzano / H

ector H

umphreys

1875 Hector H

umphreys

1881 Marcelene "A

ntonio" Sobral1905 Etienne O

. Hotard and

J.D. Pittm

an1911 Efriam

Rosem

berg1917 Jefferson D

avis Hardin

1925 Andrew

and Josephine Stewart

1972 Oak A

lley Foundation

Oak A

lley Plantation O

wnership

Mississippi River

Garçonnière

EW

S

Levee

V30a 10/2015

Blacksm

ithShop

SugarcaneT

heater

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