Whitney Plantation

10/21/2026

THE SECOND WARD HIGH SCHOOL PROTESTS

Even after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed, Black communities in St. John the Baptist Parish still faced deep inequity in their schools. Black students all over the country received hand-me-down textbooks and inadequate facilities compared to their white counterparts, and the disparities are still present in schools today.

In August 1968, Second Ward students decided they had seen enough. When two teachers who were advocating for better resources for their students were fired, about 150 students organized a walk out. They sat on the front lawn and refused to go to class, even as police ordered them off the school grounds.

Decades later, Whitney Plantation Executive Director Ashley Rogers found the photographs of that day for sale on eBay.

With help from community members, she identified the people in them. Betty Joseph recognized her mother, Orabell Williams Roybiskie, confronting state troopers. “I recognized her finger before I recognized her face,” Betty said.

Young people have always been instrumental to the ongoing fight for justice.

“Even though we were graduating, we knew we had to make it better for the kids coming behind us,” recalled Donnie Roybiskie, then a senior.

10/15/2026

Plantation banks were unique banking entities developed in the Southeast part of the country that, while short on cash, were full of plantations and enslaved people.

Louisiana had three such institutions, all based in New Orleans.

Plantation banks had no paid-in capital and relied heavily on borrowed money. Bank investors mortgaged portions of their plantations as well as enslaved people for shares in the bank. If investors failed to pay off their mortgages, the bank could foreclose on the land or enslaved people and sell them to reimburse their money.

This practice allowed plantation banks to become slaveowners. When banks seized plantations from non-paying leasers, they could either sell off the land and enslaved people or continue to operate it by hiring a manager or overseer for the site.

In 1833, Jean-Bernarc Xavier Philippe de Marigny de Mandeville (who the city of Mandeville and the Marigny district is named for) was one of the original incorporators of a plantation bank named the Citizens’ Bank of Louisiana.

Plantation banks like Citizens' operated throughout the southern states to assist in financing plantation and slaveowners.

Archives of St. John the Baptist funeral records (second slide) indicate that Citizens’ Bank maintained ownership of enslaved people.

10/14/2026

Abolitionists knew the power of the consumer's dollar.

The Free-Produce Movement was an international movement to purchase goods that were made without slave labor in the 18th century into the 1860s.

In the gift store at Whitney Plantation, we encourage you to think about who makes the products that you buy and what systems are in place to supply "cheap" labor. This is an important question to ask yourself now, just as it was then. It's also important to ask, "who owns the company?" For the gift store at Whitney, we buy large quantities from Fair Trade companies that are Black-owned.

Here we are highlighting four products that come directly from conflict zones, largely due to the effects of past and/or realities of present-day colonialism.

1️⃣ Patchwork apron made in Uganda
2️⃣ Black History Tote Bag Made in Haiti
3️⃣ Blossom of Hope ornament from South Sudan
4️⃣ Hebron glass votive holders from Palestine

Visit whitneyplantation.org/store

10/13/2026

Enslaved people were denied access to voting, representation, and basic political rights.

Ever since, all levels of government have created mechanisms to suppress Black votes and maintain white supremacy.

From the poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses of Reconstruction to today’s efforts to redraw district lines, racial gerrymandering is a modern practice connected to the institution of slavery and its vestiges.

Pictured here, Black men and women stand in line in the rain, waiting to sign up for a voter registration test in Selma, 1965.

Every election cycle, we remember the hard fought victories of past generations that paved the way voting rights today–and the attacks on them that continue.

10/09/2026

TOMORROW! Don’t miss our Director of Research, Dr. Seck, at Monumental Change: Memory, Civic Healing, and Collective Imagination at Xavier University of Louisiana, followed by The Art of the Crossfade at Music Box Village.

Monumental Change will feature panels, workshops, discussions on storytelling and the environment, live music, poetry and artistic performances.

Featured participants include Grammy Award-winning artist and Shockoe Institute Artistic Director Leyla McCalla; Shockoe Institute President and CEO Marland Buckner; photojournalists Abdul Aziz and Sanjay Suchak, who documented monument removals in New Orleans and Richmond; MacArthur Fellow and composer Courtney Bryan; Johns Hopkins University historian Martha Jones; and Whitney Plantation research director Ibrahima Seck.

Tomorrow, Saturday, October 10
11 AM-5 PM⁠
Admission is free. Lunch is $8.⁠
RSVP @ Jazz Generations Initiative

10/08/2026

TOMORROW is your chance to uncover hidden history.

The Hilliard Art Museum presents the Revolution and Evolution symposium, featuring a key presentation from our very own Director of Research, Dr. Ibrahima Seck.

You’ll gain a powerful, firsthand look into how African, Indigenous, and European traditions intertwined to shape the deep cultural roots and identity of South Louisiana. If you’ve ever wanted to connect the threads of regional history, music, and survival directly to the people who lived it, this is your chance.

🗓 When: Tomorrow, Friday, Oct. 9 | 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
📍 Where: Hilliard Art Museum, Lafayette, LA
💡 Featured Session: Braiding the Bayous with Dr. Ibrahima Seck (9:00–9:45 a.m.)

Step beyond the surface and discover the living history that continues to define our community.

🔗 Learn More: https://loom.ly/hfoLukM

The dust clouds kicked up by dancers in Girard park have found their way to the digital cloud. This year, Acadiana’s finest musicians are in your pocket and on your screen via FESTv. Hear every note from the hi-def audio and video stream right here on the Festivals website, or enjoy the show with ...

10/06/2026

Proud to share this next piece in our our monthly column published by Verite News, The Unbroken Line. This one is from one of our Historical Interpreters, Jim Kelly.

Following the theft of millions of acres of Native American lands and the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, New Orleans emerged as the largest slave market in the United States…

10/06/2026

America's Hidden Treasures takes you inside 101 of the country's most underrated museums and collections — and Louisiana's own Whitney Plantation and the The Historic New Orleans Collection made the cut!

From the National Music Museum in Vermillion, South Dakota, to the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage, the Stark Museum of Art in Orange, Texas, and the Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington, Connecticut, America’s Hidden Treasures is a road trip through the cultural fabric of the U.S.A. 🇺🇸

With more than 900 images, it is an essential volume for museum lovers, cultural travelers, and anyone curious about America's hidden heritage, published during the 250th anniversary of American independence.

Pick up your copy at the Whitney Gift Store, in-store or online: https://loom.ly/sBoqAxw

America's Hidden Treasures: In 101 Museums of Art, Innovation & Americana by Arnold Lehman (Author) Format: Hardcover

10/05/2026

At the Whitney Plantation, we understand that the history of slavery is the history of the United States.

As the first plantation museum in Louisiana exclusively dedicated to understanding the lives of the enslaved, we preserve the past to help people understand the present. Visitors from all over the world receive award-winning programming and interpretation on the grounds where history happened.

As lawmakers ban books, dismantle exhibits, and limit curriculums, it is more important than ever to remain rooted in the struggle for collective memory.

Plan your visit and become a recurring donor today: whitneyplantation.org/plan-your-visit/

10/03/2026

We're closing early today at Noon today due to inclement weather. The safety of our guests and staff is our top priority. Stay safe and dry!