Melrose exhibit highlights history of enslaved labor

“The exhibit includes the currently known names of nearly 400 people enslaved by the McMurrans at Melrose and five plantations."

John Retallack, park guide for the Natchez National Historical Park, discusses a history panel on display in the temporary slave quarters exhibit on the Melrose estate. The exhibit opened on June 10 and will last through Sunday, June 30, at #1 Melrose-Montebello Parkway. (Click on image to enlarge.)

Note: A longer version of this story was published by ListenUpYall.com

NATCHEZ, Miss. –  A Melrose slave quarters is the site of a temporary exhibit that presents the history of the McMurran family – who built the Melrose estate — and the people they held in bondage.

The exhibit, which is titled, “Through the Labor of Others: The McMurrans as Enslavers,” opened on June 10. It will last through Sunday, June 30, at #1 Melrose-Montebello Parkway.

It is free to the public and may be viewed each day between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.

“The exhibit includes the currently known names of nearly 400 people enslaved by the McMurrans at Melrose and five plantations,” said Jeff Mansell, lead historian for the Natchez National Historical Park.

The exhibit aims to show, among other things, how words matter when discussing the topic of enslavement, said Mansell. For this reason, an entire panel entitled “The Language of Enslavement” addresses this topic. Mansell believes it will “be particularly thought-provoking” for the visitors.

Dr. David Slay, chief of interpretation, credited Mansell with creating the exhibit. He said the names of the enslaved people will include men, women, and children, with the youngest being 12 months old.

The slave quarters where the exhibit is featured is a small wooden structure with three rooms, where each served as a cell for three different families. Each room had a front and back door.

On the wall of the middle room is a history panel that presents the background of the McMurrans. According to the text, John McMurran was a Pennsylvanian who came to Natchez in the 1820s to make money as a cotton planter. “In pre-Civil War American, this meant becoming an enslaver on a large scale,” the panel notes.

When he married Mary Louisa Turner in 1832, her father gave them a slave labor farm called Hope Farm and 24 enslaved people to work it. Mary’s father was Edward Turner who was a state legislator and state justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court.

John Retallack, park guide for the Natchez National Historical Park, stands in front of the slave quarters at Melrose, which is the site of a temporary exhibit, "Through the Labor of Others: The McMurrans as Enslavers." (Click on image to enlarge.)

Even though the McMurran’s started with 24 enslaved people, they would eventually have hundreds working various farms and plantations. It is believed that between 1832 and 1863, the McMurrans had enslaved more than 700 people. 

An interesting part of the McMurrans’ history is what they did to maintain control over the enslaved. What Mary Louisa’s father did for them in providing slave labor, the McMurrans did the same for their daughter and son-in-law when they married in 1856, Mansell said.

“They would continue to maintain power and control through each generation by making enslavers of their children,” Mansell said.

The slave quarters exhibit is one of several programs the park service initiated this year to commemorate Juneteenth.