Structural Parity at Montpelier

June 22, 2021 12:19 PM

In what is hoped to become a model for other historic sites, the descendants of enslaved persons at James Madison's estate, Montpelier, will be co-equals in sharing governing power and responsibility for the site.
posted by jedicus (5 comments total)

The vote on bylaws on June 16, 2021, during the week of Juneteenth, followed a resolution passed by the Board of TMF on May 27 which stated, “The Board of The Montpelier Foundation affirms its commitment to collaborate with the Montpelier Descendants Committee (MDC) to achieve structural parity with descendants at all levels of the organization.”

This is amazing. MDC was founded two years ago.
posted by Iris Gambol at 12:42 PM on June 22, 2021 [11 favorites]

Wow, this is such good news.

The Descendants site has links to a rubric for ongoing evaluation of research, relationship building, and interpretation that would be valuable for any institution that provides interpretation of American history.

The amount of thought and effort going into this whole enterprise is overwhelming and inspiring.

Thank you so much for posting this, jedicus.
posted by kristi at 12:54 PM on June 22, 2021 [3 favorites]

Good. I agree with the post: I hope this becomes a model. I hope it is wildly successful.
posted by gauche at 12:54 PM on June 22, 2021

We visited both Montpelier and Monticello in 2019 on a trip to Virginia. Montpelier did a considerably better job, in my view, connecting the legacy of slavery to the current day and also in wrestling with the contradictions between the ideals espoused in the plantation owner's writing and the reality of life there. The difference between the two was really pretty striking.

I'm glad they continue to try and improve, and hope others do indeed follow their lead.
posted by nickmark at 1:05 PM on June 22, 2021 [4 favorites]

I was at Montpelier in 2018 and thought they did an...adequate?...job of interpreting the lives/legacy of the enslaved. It was definitely incorporated and probably better than most, but the "slavery history" was still an adjunct to the "standard" tour. I'm so happy to hear they have done this and hope it is indeed a model for other sites.
posted by Preserver at 6:22 PM on June 22, 2021 [2 favorites]