Let's not forget the whites who were also 'in the trades'. In my own family there were carpenters, plasterers, blacksmiths, wheelwrights, carriage makers, dressmakers and seamstresses. It's a mistake to assume that all whites were rich, all craftsmen were black, free or slave, and all the whites who weren't rich were... what? Nancy ------- I was never lost, but I was bewildered once for three days. --Daniel Boone On Jan 31, 2007, at 12:52 PM, [log in to unmask] wrote: > In a message dated 1/29/2007 2:51:44 PM Eastern Standard Time, > [log in to unmask] writes: > >> >> VCU alumnus Selden Richardson, architectural historian and board >> president for the Alliance to Conserve Old Richmond Neighborhoods >> (ACORN), will discuss and sign his recent book, "Built by Blacks: >> African American Architecture and Neighborhoods in Richmond, >> Virginia". > > Sounds like an interesting lecture. But this raises another point. > It would > seem to me that historically African-American neighborhoods are far > from being > the only historic properties in Virginia that were "Built by > Blacks". I > would have thought that most of the 18th-19th century plantations > and their > outbuildings were also built by African Americans, as they were the > principal labor > force in that era. I've also seen documentation of plantation > owners leasing > out the services of slave artisans to neighbors and splitting the > proceeds, in > some cases eventually enabling the artisan to buy their freedom. > > My own house, a small to medium sized 1850s plantation on the > Northern Neck, > was a second home / summer home which the owner designed himself > and the oral > histories handed down is that it was built by the owners slaves and > local > Free Person of Color artisans, some of whom had originally been > slaves of the > owner's family.. We've not been able to find any record of an > architect being > employed, so it was probably supervised by some sort of master > builder / foreman > type, either black or white. > > The ornamental millwork on the staircase is identical to that > employed on the > staircase of the 1850s extension to Eagles Nest, the Fitzhugh > ancestral home > (which just got a historical marker yesterday, as posted on the list) > > My guess is that most of the great plantations, even those designed > by an > architect, were largely "Built by Blacks", rather like the pyramids > were "Built > by the Israelites". But this is guesswork on my part. > > I'd be interested to hear input from the list on what research > might have > been done on the contributions of African American construction > workers in the > antebellum period. > > -- Kathryn Coombs > "Cleydael" > (National Register Property / Virginia Landmark) > King George, VA > www.Cleydael.org > > > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the > instructions > at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html