To: Shawn Halifax, Executive Director of Woodlawn Plantation, Alexandria, VA

From: Asia Talley, Sophomore Health Sciences at Howard University, Washington, DC

Date: February 28, 2023

Subject: Celebrating African American Culture and History

Purpose: Weddings at plantations are completely unacceptable and aid in romanticizing

America’s dark past. The purpose of this proposal is to find better ways of using the Woodlawn

Plantation in an effort to honor the enslaved people who once lived there.

Problem: Plantations are monuments to America’s harsh history. In the Antebellum era, they

were used as labor camps for the enslaved and now in the 21st century we see them being used

as venues for celebratory events, including weddings. Couples come to a plantation to have a

pretty backdrop for their special day. What is being overlooked is the great amount of suffering

and hardship that occurred there in favor of a pretty venue. The stories buried within the soil of a

plantation are being trampled on as we allow events that distract from the truth to take place. The

question then is, what are we to do with these sites? Some suggest turning plantations into

museums or even demolishing them entirely, but can there be more done to honor those who

were there before? If we were to find alternatives to weddings, how would we keep the

plantation afloat financially?

This is the question that Woodlawn Plantation is trying to answer. Currently, weddings at the

plantation take up 34% of revenue, and if they were simply removed without a plan to replace,

the land loses a significant amount of funding. This could eventually lead to closing the

plantation down, further contributing to the erasure of the stories that exist on that land.

Solution: In order to stop having weddings and ensure that the Woodlawn Plantation remains

active, there has to be something put in place in order to eventually match or surpass the revenue
the weddings bring in that also aligns with the mission of keeping enslaved people’s stories alive.

This is where the surrounding community comes into play. Tiya Miles, a historian and professor

at Harvard University writes in an article titled “What Should We Do with Plantations?, ” that

“…we should push ourselves as visitors and stewards of these sites to reinvent them as spaces of

facilitated conversation at the nexus of multiple social histories, as places of homecoming and

meaning-making for descendants of the enslaved, and as sites where managers and tour guides of

color have equal employment and advancement opportunities as well as shared authority to

research and incorporate fresh interpretations.” Woodlawn needs to get more people involved on

the plantation, especially those who are descendants of enslaved people and work on mending

the wounds the land has.

So how exactly should Woodlawn go about doing this? First, Woodlawn needs to have a

diverse staff, and especially staff members who are descendants of enslaved people. Diversity in

staff not only creates more opportunities for people of color, but it also gives insight to how

people of color would respond to certain activities on the site. Secondly, Woodlawn needs to

engage in community outreach. The people within an hour drive from the plantation are the most

likely to keep visiting and regular events will keep them engaged. For example, during Black

History Month the plantation can host a week long festival, open to the public. There could be

booths set up highlighting black creators and black owned food trucks. In order to raise money,

the plantation could set up donations during the event and have fees to rent out booths. For

people outside the surrounding community, Woodlawn could also host diversity training events,

seminars, book tours, and other events that uplift black people. I propose having at least one

event per weekend of every month, targeted at the community neighboring Woodlawn and
offering opportunities specifically for black individuals. It would become a space to celebrate

black culture and educate on the history of African Americans.

Alternative Solution: My only alternative would be having weddings on a case to case basis. If

the couple can show a true commitment to the mission of Woodlawn, I would allow them to be

wed on the land. If not, decline.

Budget: Ultimately, the financial support will come from the community. The solution will most

likely take years to fully implement and be able to match the revenue produced by weddings.

Woodlawn will have to advertise their events, either with billboards, flyers, or social media. The

actual set up of the events will also have to be taken into consideration including booths and

people hired to help with assembly. To begin, Woodlawn could start by doing 5 events next year

geared towards their mission, and opt out of doing 5 weddings. After the 5 events, then compare

earnings from the weddings to the events, assessing what needs to be changed to both increase

revenue and fulfill the mission.

Experience: As a black woman and descendant of slaves, this has always been a personal issue.

The thought of slavery, the completely uncovered and brutal truth of it makes me sick. I truly can

not understand wanting to celebrate a wedding in a place so riddled with pain. The past did not

disappear when America decided to rewrite history, sharing an altered version to hide the atrocity

of slavery. It’s crucial to fix the issue because the people’s legacies who came before me depend

on it. Plantations should now be servants of the truth, aiming to correct and reshape America’s

idea of how the topic of slavery should be handled.

Conclusion: Plantation weddings are an unacceptable practice, but they can be discarded

without jeopardizing the plantation itself. Community is important in helping to reshape the

purpose of a plantation, and Woodlawn’s surrounding neighbors can be a part of that. Over time,
Woodlawn can become a safe place for descendants of enslaved people to connect themselves to

their ancestors, as well as for others to learn the truth and honor those of the past.
 Works Cited

Miles, Tiya. “What Should We Do with Plantations? - The Boston Globe.”

BostonGlobe.com, The Boston Globe, 12 Feb. 2021,

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/08/08/opinion/what-should-we-do-with-plantati

ons/.

“Woodlawn & Frank Lloyd Wright's Pope-Leighey House.” Woodlawn & Frank Lloyd

Wright's Pope-Leighey House, http://www.woodlawnpopeleighey.org/.