A Tale of Two Plantations: The Comparative Development of the Ensley and Davies Plantations in Shelby County, Tennessee and the Museums that Interpret Them

Identifier

474

Author

Emily Rosalind Schwimmer

Date

2011

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Major

History

Committee Chair

Aram Goudsouzian

Committee Member

Janann Sherman

Committee Member

Robert Connolly

Abstract

This study compares the histories of two plantations in Shelby County, Tennessee - the Ensley Plantation in Southwest Memphis and the Davies Plantation in Bartlett. During broad national transformations such as the Great Migration and suburbanization, proximity to or distance from the City of Memphis strongly influenced divergent land-use, demographic and socio-economic composition, and political and economic resources in each historic plantation area. The historical experiences of each area and its contemporary socio-economic and demographic composition, in turn, influences the way that a museum at each site addresses the past and, particularly, the historical presence of African Americans. The C. H. Nash Museum at Chucalissa (located on the former Ensley Plantation) has made significant efforts to partner with the surrounding communities to showcase the area's African American cultural heritage, while Davies Manor Plantation (located on the former Davies Plantation) has largely left African Americans out of its current interpretive programs.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to the local University of Memphis Electronic Theses & dissertation (ETD) Repository.

Recommended Citation

Schwimmer, Emily Rosalind, "A Tale of Two Plantations: The Comparative Development of the Ensley and Davies Plantations in Shelby County, Tennessee and the Museums that Interpret Them" (2011). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 380.
https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/etd/380