19th centuary bedroom

In class the other day we were asked to furnish a 19th centuary room.  My partner and founded about 12 items to furnish the room totaling 96$. During this time period the average factory worker would make around 1.00$ to a 1.50$ a day. We calculated that at 1.50$ it would take approximately 62.3 days to afford to furnish this room if all the money was put towards only this purpose. In reality one person would also have to pay for food and clothing and other necessities so this time would be much longer.  Above are 3 images of the main necessities of the bedroom.  There is the bed dresser and vanity set posted to be around 15$, the mattress to be around 10$ and the lamp being 5.90$. These items are not the only things required to furnish a classy room but i choose to blog about them because it really wouldn't be a bedroom without them. Not included in the photographs but included in the total was  wall paper, carpet, blankets, an overstuffed chair and a lounge. Most of these items are required in a bedroom however those such as the overstuffed chair and lounge would be found in a more upperclass residence and arn't really necessary. However, for a factory worker in this time period to furnish a room in such a manner would be next to impossible because despite the fact that classy rooms were very desirable family sizes were also very large so this would have to be done around 5-10 times.  These antiques would still be valued today as upperclass items and would be at an equivalent value for todays currency.

Reba Gagne

Professor Rainville

Y1: 19^th century economies

Assignment #5

Sweet Briar Slave Cabin

             The Sweet Briar Slave Cabin is a historically significant building to Sweet Briar College. It represents the colleges founding history and changing values. It has been used to a large number of different things ranging from a dance studio to a slave cabin.  Currently research is being done about the cabin to help us decipher its past and how we should best preserve this cabin and all the history associated with it.

            Before the class discussion, I really knew nothing about the slave cabin other than knowing of its existence. I knew that the college had been a former plantation and that there had been slaves on this plantation because they were buried in the cemetery. After further reading and discussion of the cabin I learned a lot about it. I learned that the cabin still standing is the only one of an estimated 22 still standing. It had a multitude of uses. It started as a slave cabin somewhere between 1840 and emancipation. It then served as a house for Sterling Jones Jr. and his family after Sweet Briar College was founded.  After what is estimated to be around the mid twenties the slave cabin was used for a variety of things such as an Alumnae Office, a classroom a coffee shop and a chapel. In the 1980’s the farm tool museum was set up and displayed in the cabin and this is the way it has been used up until today. Only recently has Sweet Briar been awarded a grant to be able to reinterpret the history of this building.

            This now brings up the pressing issue of how do we value this cabin and how do we want to use it? It clearly has potential to be used in many different ways.  Knowing what I do about the cabin I think that its value is in its original use as a slave plantation. Not only is it one of the few left in the country but also it is the only one at a college. Sweet Briar was originally a plantation and was founded on the backs of the slave laborers.  I think that this then should be exhibited in the cabin itself. The former plantation house is decorated in the time period of when the college was founded. I think that if this half of the college history is represented we should equally represent the not so beautiful part and restore the slave cabin to its original state. In doing so we will be preserving part of not just American history but our own as well.

            However, there are still a few questions I have concerning the slave cabin and this plantation. First I would like to know why such an important part of history wasn’t originally preserved to begin with. Secondly I would like to know more about the cabin in general. Who built it? How exactly was it used? How were slaves treated on this plantation?  

            I believe that if questions such as the one’s I have listed above are answered than this would spark and interest in current students. I think that if we use this slave cabin to educate students about Sweet Briar College and America it will serve as a museum, a historical building and therefore a natural classroom.  I know that most Sweet Briar students are interested in Sweet Briar history and the story of Daisy and Indiana Fletcher. If we incorporate the slave cabin into these stories I feel it will greatly benefit the Sweet Briar Community.