Interior Slave Cabin, Oakley Plantation, Louisiana, from the series "Underground Railroad"

Artist Document Files\Artist U thru Z\Williams, William E\Audio Files\Audio of Ilana Carlin '09 Interview with William E. Williams '73 1.m4a

Artist Document Files\Artist U thru Z\Williams, William E\Exhibition Catalogs\Uncovering the Path to Freedom 2008.pdf

Artist/Maker William E. Williams (American, born 1950, Class of 1973)

Date2004

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsComposition: 7 5/8 × 7 5/8 in. (19.3 × 19.3 cm) Sheet: 9 13/16 × 8 in. (25 × 20.3 cm)

Credit LineGift of William Earle Williams, Class of 1973, in honor of the Class of 1973

Object number2008.5.1

Not on view

DescriptionJames and Lucy Pirrie built this plantation and in 1821 they hired John James Audubon as a drawing teacher for their daughter, Eliza. The plantation became Audubon’s home for four months. Because the plantation remained in family hands into the 20th century, it has become an important archaeological site for interpreting African-American life on Southern plantations. This slave cabin is not original to the plantation. It was relocated to Oakley, now part of the Audubon Memorial State Park, and restored to illustrate slave life on Louisiana plantations. (SOURCE: Adair, et al., "Uncovering the Path to Freedom" exh. cat, p. 29) Oakley Plantation House is located in the Audubon Memorial State Park in West Feliciana Parish. Construction on the house began in 1799, when Ruffin Gray, a successful planter from Natachez, Mississippi, moved here on land purchased from the Spanish authorities. Gray died before the house was completed, and his widow Lucy Alston oversaw its completion. She later married James Pierre of Scotland. Eliza, the daughter of James Pierre and Lucy, was born here in 1805, and it was her future education that introduced Audubon to the Felicianas. Oakley's interior has been restored to the Federal period style (1790-1830), reflecting its appearance when Audubon stayed here. The three-story home expresses the colonial architecture adapted to the geographical location. Oakley Plantation House contains 17 rooms, with front and side entrances leading to the landscaped grounds, which are shaded by oak and ancient crape myrtle trees. (SOURCE: Oakley Plantation House, National Park Service, https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/louisiana/okl.htm, accessed 4/17/18)

Collections

Additional Details

Exhibition History 2011
Online exhibition ( http://www.hamilton.edu/emerson_gallery/upf/ ), "Uncovering the Path to Freedom: Photographs of the Underground Railroad by William Earle Williams, '73," August 2008 - October 2011.

2006-08
Clinton, NY (Fred L. Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College). "Uncovering the Path to Freedom: Photographs of the Underground Railroad," January 14 - April 13, 2008 (cat no. 28, illus.). Traveled to: Auburn, NY (Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center) April 26 - June 14, 2006.

Provenance 2008: Hamilton College (Fred L. Emerson Gallery), by gift of the artist.

Markings Blind stamp: "PHOTOGRAPH / BY / WILLIAM EARLE WILLIAMS / COPYRIGHT" at lower center.

Published References Katerina Adair, Ilana Carlin, Sophia Franck, Deborah Pokinski and Susanna White, UNCOVERING THE PATH TO FREEDOM: PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD BY WILLIAM EARLE WILLIAMS '73, exh. cat. (Clinton, NY: Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College, 2008), 29, illus. p. 29.

Signature Signed "William Earle Williams" on verso at lower center in pencil.

Inscribed "Interior Slave Cabin, Oakley Plantation Lou, 2004" on verso at lower center in pencil; "Oakley plantation LA 2004 3.3 f16 DL oed BrRtsd5Lfsd3 7604" on verso at lower edge in pencil.