For the break, I had the opportunity to stay with a friend, Ms. Ramona La Roche (she is the author of Georgetown County, which is a book in the Arcadia Publishing’s Black in America Series), who has a home near Georgetown, SC. Her family still lives on the Arcadia Plantation in the area because they have an agreement with the landowners that allow the generations of the enslaved to still live on the property. I was amazed to learn about this type of living still occurring. I also had the opportunity to meet Ms. Minnie, Ms. La Roche’s friend who is a 94 years young (well 95, she turned 95 on Christmas) woman, who had very exciting things to tell me. Ms. Minnie grew up on the Hobcaw Barony in South Carolina and she told me stories of going to school, how she basically made the master of the Barony pay for her schooling, the treatment of the people on the plantation, her experiences as a teacher both in New York City and in South Carolina, and other interesting tidbits. She told us that Baronies were used by Northerners as hunting lodges and that the animals that the men killed were given to the African Americans. At 94 years young she was very engaging and energetic (ex. She swung on a rope swing and walks everywhere). I want to be like her when I get to that age. We also toured Mansfield Plantation, where there are slave dwellings and a church used by enslaved people still standing. The church was renovated, but the dwellings still need care.
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