In the wake of the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War, many Civil War commemoration events have occurred throughout the country in the last few years; however, the staff at Mordecai Historic Park is concerned that these celebrations and reenactments often ignore an important part of the war.
“There’s been tons of 150th commemorations [in the past few years] for various battles, and all those are great, and I appreciate them, but oftentimes we miss the greatest impact of the Civil War, which is emancipation,” said Douglas Porter Jr., the historic sites manager for the City of Raleigh Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department Historic Resources and Museum Program.
After seeing this gap in the coverage of such an important time period, a local acting group was brought in to perform vignettes on plantation life in the period leading up to emancipation. The experience is designed to give the audience a perspective on life as a slave.
A concern of the staff was that too often plantation house museums are seen as giving a “Moonlight and Magnolias” or “Gone with the Wind” perspective that glorifies the Old South. Porter wants to dispel this.
“Those kind of notions have their place, but most of them have their place in the past. They’re all outdated,” Porter said. “We are very forward thinking and progressive, and we recognize that our job is to shed light on everybody that lived here.”
On this note, it is worth mentioning that many staff members, including Porter, are graduates of the N.C. State Public History program.
The hook of the event is that the audience is going to represent enslaved people and will be given limited interactivity within the confines of the performance. Porter was careful to hide the details of the performance, but he did say that at the end that the audience will be given a choice, either to flee to freedom or choose to stay on the plantation.
The event will take place at Mordecai Historic Park on Sept. 19 with performances beginning at 5 p.m. The park is also hosting a lecture series on Sept. 13 and 20.
The Mordecai House with a small kitchen in the background. This is the oldest house in Raleigh, built in 1785 and located at 1 Mimosa St. in North Raleigh.
