New Exhibit Will Interrogate Burke County's History of Slavery

"Shadows of a Time Gone By" should challenge common misconceptions about chattel slavery throughout antebellum Appalachia.

While many believe chattel slavery didn't exist on a significant scale in Burke County and throughout Appalachia, enslavement rates were comparable with other counties across the South.

MORGANTON, North Carolina—The history of slavery in North Carolina tends to focus on the Piedmont and coastal plains, often overlooking the ways in which the barbarous system has molded life in Appalachian society.

However, the lives of people enslaved in the mountainous region are about to garner some long-overdue, elevated attention.

A new exhibit at the Historic Burke County Courthouse will host an opening reception and presentation on October 7, 2023. Titled “Shadows of a Time Gone By,” the exhibit comes from a partnership between Historic Burke Foundation and Appalachian State University.

Its focus on enslavement in antebellum Burke County should prove particularly timely given continued debates over removal of the Confederate monument that remains standing some 50 feet from where the exhibit will be displayed.

“This exhibit is a wonderful teaching tool to help our community better understand the true nature of American chattel slavery in Burke County,” says Mary Charlotte Safford, a member of the Historic Burke Foundation Exhibit Committee.

Mary Charlotte Safford and the Historic Burke Foundation Exhibit Committee collaborated with Appalachian State University to create “Shadows of a Time Gone By.”

“Despite the brutal system of slavery,” she continues, “the enslaved people were complex individuals just as we are today. They were resourceful and talented, loved their families, and had desires and dreams of their own.”

Under the instruction of Dr. Leslie McKesson, six Appalachian State University honors students will showcase their research findings regarding the impact chattel slavery has had on this part of Appalachia.

Dr. Leslie McKesson, an instructor at Appalachian State University, leads a group of honor students in creating the “Shadows of a Time Gone By” exhibit.

“This exhibit is important because it offers a more holistic view of enslaved people,” McKesson explains. “It attempts to present a fuller picture of their humanity than has been traditionally presented.”

Students compiled the stories of seven enslaved people who lived and worked at the Captain Charles McDowell, Jr., House in Morganton. The research will feature further analysis and pieces created by the students to foster greater understanding of life as an enslaved person in Burke.

“Our goal is to show enslaved people as individuals with hopes and aspirations, as more than reflections of the people who owned them and the work that they did,” she continues. “The purpose of the exhibit is to bring honor to people whose lives have been covered in silent shame for hundreds of years, to show that enslaved people had dignity and strength and that their lives are worthy of reflection and respect.”

The Hoped-for Social Impact of the Exhibit

For community members eager to leave behind Confederate identities and remove the Confederate monument lording over downtown Morganton, “Shadows of a Time Gone By” should further clarify the historical and cultural dynamics of race in Burke County.

McKesson hopes the exhibit will not only enlarge Burke County’s “understanding of the significant role that slavery played in the Appalachian region” but also help lift “the shame that has historically been placed on the people who were enslaved.”

There’s a common belief that Appalachia is somewhat absolved of the sins associated with chattel slavery because the “peculiar institution” wasn’t as central to Appalachian society. This view is informed, in part, by the reality that Appalachia is mountainous and, therefore, typically less conducive to the large-scale agriculture practiced throughout the antebellum South.

However, the claim is rather skewed.

“Many people believe that slavery didn't exist on a significant scale in Appalachia and in Burke County,” McKesson argues. “While some mountain counties had relatively low percentages of enslaved people and a few had none, Federal Census records verify that the percentage of enslaved people in Burke County was as high as it was in many states in the deep South.”

In fact, roughly a quarter of Burke County’s population was enslaved,” she says. “At no time since the abolition of slavery has the population of Black people in Burke County been as high as it was during slavery.”

Doors for the exhibit will open at 2:00 p.m., followed by a presentation of students’ works in the Courtroom at 2:30. The Historic Burke County Courthouse is located at 101 S. Sterling Street, Morganton, NC. For more information contact the Historic Burke Foundation at (828) 437-4104 or historicburke@gmail.com.