The African American Experience at Hope

Enslaved and free persons of African descent were the major labor resource for the economic development of Hope Plantation and agrarian life in eastern North Carolina.  They also blended their African culture with those of the European and the Aborigine populations.  The Roanoke Chowan Heritage Center is the main venue for interpreting Hope’s tri-racial Antebellum Legacy.  While there is an attempt to reflect the African American experience in the appropriate and accurate context in all programming, there are two events http://www.hopeplantation.org/events/ that focus specifically on the African American Legacy: the annual “Bertie County African American Celebration” focuses on a variety of topics that chronicle the  contributions of enslaved and free persons to plantation life at Hope and the impact of this legacy on contemporary history; the annual  “Bertie Family History and Genealogy Fair”  traces the local African American families from the present back through early plantation developments and colonization. While there are no surviving slave quarters and related outbuildings at Hope, an exhibit of artifacts in the basement of the Hope Mansion represents an enslaved carpenter’s shop that was close to the house and outside kitchen.