Last week, I went to Wilmington, North Carolina, to visit my great-aunt and great-uncle. We didn’t really do a lot of sightseeing as it was around 90 degrees the whole trip, but the humidity felt like it was closer to 100. However, there was one place we did go to–the Bellamy Mansion. This was a house built in the Civil War era that has become a museum showcasing it from the Civil War to today. The museum is really only a house and slave’s quarters, with very little furniture. They keep the small amount of furniture because it is used for various events throughout the year like art galleries. It does take away from some of the appeal to it, because a lot of the time, furniture is some of the most interesting things about a house. The way they built things back then and the materials they used are so different from now that it’s really interesting to look back on it. The lack of furniture is also more noticeable due to the house being huge, with over 5,000 square feet. Keep in mind that this is in the downtown of Wilmington.
The architecture of the place is also quite interesting, as most old homes in Wilmington are. The home has these massive pillars surrounding it, all made out of marble. Most of the materials that were used to build the house came from the North, as that was where most manufacturing was. This was strange, as this house was built around the time where the tension between the North and South was rising.
When we visited the mansion, we took a guided tour along with around 15 other people. We toured throughout the whole house, as well as the slave quarters close to the house. The guide was very good at talking about the architecture and the family that lived there and had stories about the house, of which there are many. After we were done touring, I thought about how hard it would be to tour this house, and not only because of the heat. This is a house that was essentially built on the backs of slaves, and they did most, if not all, of the work on the house. It’s a sensitive talk about slavery these days, and every single time you have to not step on any toes. You can’t not acknowledge it, because it is so important to the house. Yes, the house is beautiful, but that beauty masks the evils of slavery. Some would say that it shouldn’t be a museum at all. In my opinion, the house is too beautiful for it to be ignored. Yes, it was build on the backs of slaves and that is a horrible thing and should be acknowledged, but it shouldn’t be shut down because of that. History is about learning, and one of the things you can learn from it is the exploitation of slaves and how it shouldn’t be done again, but you don’t have to interpret it that way. You can just appreciate the architecture and stories behind the house. Not everything has to spark a debate. Some things can be enjoyed. I learned that while in Wilmington this year, and this was only a tour for an hour and a half.