Slave memorial dedicated at Andrew Jackson's home, The Hermitage
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Not the new memorial. Image: HERE
Slave memorial dedicated at Andrew Jackson home
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A new memorial for 60 slaves was dedicated at The Hermitage, the home of President Andrew Jackson.
The memorial is a sculpture by Union University art professor Lee Benson. It consists of seven oak trees in the shape of the Little Dipper constellation laid out across a circle of 30 boulders. It is named "Our Peace, Follow the Drinking Gourd."
The song "Follow the Drinking Gourd" helped runaway slaves find and follow the North Star, one of the stars in the Little Dipper, to freedom. Seven boulders surround the tree that represents the North Star.
The Hermitage is a 1,120-acre National Historic Landmark that includes restored slave quarters. The 60 slaves were recently reinterred on the grounds.
Article: HERE
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The story of The Hermitage – how these 1000 acres changed from frontier forest to Andrew Jackson’s prosperous farm, deteriorated into post-Civil War dilapidation and was finally rescued to its current state as a public museum and National Historic Landmark – mirrors many stories in American history. These stories of Indians, white men moving west, slavery and freedom, the changing roles of women, religion and reform, and fortunes made from cotton are the stories of Jacksonian America.
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