Ancestral Spaces: People of African Descent at Tudor Place
Through October 13, Tudor Place presents a special installation and guided tour: Ancestral Spaces: People of African Descent at Tudor Place. Tudor Place has been reimagined to show the historic house from the perspective of the enslaved and free individuals for whom it was both home and workplace. Using artifacts, maps, photographs and audio recordings, visitors will explore how these individuals found ways to practice resistance and activism while navigating the irreparable traumas that came from the institution of slavery.
Curated in collaboration with descendants, this guided tour presents the multi-faceted individuals and families of African descent who lived and worked at Tudor Place. Explore the historic house through their lives, learn how they impacted the world around them and discover their enduring legacy. The stories of these advisors also play an important part in the tour.
To augment historical narratives, staff made use of a variety of new sources, including the archaeological dig of an enslaved home space that occurred onsite in May 2022. Learn what was uncovered at this dig in our blog post, click here.
Tudor Place was owned by generations of the Peter family between 1805 and 1983. Through the exploitation of hundreds of enslaved individuals, the family built generational wealth through tobacco cultivation and land sales. While members of the family were diligent record-keepers when it came to their own stories, the lives of enslaved people who lived and worked at Tudor Place were mostly erased.
This tour will honor the memories of these individuals while expanding the traditional Tudor Place narrative, recognizing the site as a space built on the labor and presence of generations of people of African descent.