Telfair Museums presents the conclusion of the next major phase of work for its award-winning Slavery and Freedom in Savannah project, which transforms the Owens-Thomas House & Slave Quarters' working cellar, carriage house, and slave quarters with new exhibits and narratives, telling the whole history of the property.

In the 1990s, restoration work focused on conserving the Owens-Thomas House's original slave quarters brought national prominence to the museum as an important site for interpreting African-American history and culture in the South. In the most recent decade, staff has worked to preserve the house's original working cellar.

During this time, the museum staff and academic consultants have researched the lives of the many enslaved men, women, and children who lived and worked in these spaces to incorporate their stories into a new, more complete historical narrative. The stories that will be told of Emma, the nanny; Diane, the cook; and Peter, the butler; in addition to the Owens family, offer the opportunity to consider how enslaved and free people lived, worked, and interacted on a day-to-day basis.

Through the lens of a National Historic Landmark site, this project explores how the most powerful and least powerful people in Savannah lived together in the 1820s-1830s, providing audiences with a broader understanding of how slavery impacted urban life in and beyond the home, and how it affected young and old, black and white, enslaved and free. Visitors also will be able to explore topics of historic preservation, domestic technology, and more through interactive learning galleries and interpreter-guided tours.    

Perhaps the greatest problem in the interpretation of urban slavery is that it is minimized— the slaves and their lives are lost in comparison with the grand house, the fine furnishings, and the political and commercial importance of the owners. Often overlooked is that without the labor and blood of African American slaves, the wealth and prestige of the owners would not exist, and this is explored in the new interpretation at the site. Through a simple and honest presentation of their stories, these "invisible people" are given a voice and inform the public of what life was truly like in antebellum Savannah.

Between eight and 14 enslaved people lived and worked at the Owens-Thomas House & Slave Quarters from 1819 to the end of the Civil War at any given time, half of them children. In contrast to the rich documentary material related to the white members of the Owens household, there is remarkably little written about the lives of these men, women, and children who played a vital role in the maintenance of the household and who were critical to the comfort and well-being of the white family for whom they cooked, cleaned, gardened, shopped, and cared.

The stories of many of these people have been lost to history, and the little surviving information comes from Census records, family correspondence, legal documents, tax records, wills, and inventories. Together, though, these documents show an ambivalent relationship held by the Owens family toward their slaves.

The most profound testimony to the existence of these people comes in the form of property lists prepared on the occasion of the deaths of the Owens men, itemizing the contents of the deceased man's city dwelling, plantations, and other properties. There, starkly written, are the names of the men, women, and children whose entire lives were spent as enslaved property.

The stories of Emma, Dianne, Peter are finally being told. Their stories are all important to better understand how we got to where we are today regarding issues of race and inequality. In a time when we are tearing down monuments, the opening and reinterpretations of old narratives at historic homes, plantations, and museums, is an apt reminder that we should revisit the past to reexamine the present.