Power in Person
Brigette Jones, director of Equitable Partnerships at Belle Meade. Photo Credit: Andrew Nelles for The Tennessean
Belle Meade Historic Site & Winery in Nashville, Tennessee, is a historic plantation that once was a thoroughbred stud farm, raising premiere horses rather than crops. The plantation owners enslaved people to run the operations, including training and grooming horses. In 2015, Brigette Jones worked at the plantation as an entry-level interpreter. Jones eventually left that job to further her education but ultimately returned to Belle Meade as the first-ever director of African American studies. Jones spoke with us about her beginnings at Belle Meade, her return, and the changes that have been made at Belle Meade to tell its history more authentically. Listen to her story here.
Belle Meade started a research project in the late 1990s focused on the enslaved people that worked on the plantation. They looked through archives and letters to understand the people and history at Belle Meade. The project grew into the “Journey to Jubilee” tour that explores the horrors of slavery, including the enslaved people at Belle Meade and what happened to those people after emancipation. At its height, the Harding family, who owned Belle Meade, enslaved 136 people, including 63 children. The tour talks about their living conditions and shows the 15’ x 15’ cabin that 10-20 people would share. It also helps give a voice to people like Harriet Vaulex, part of the domestic house staff at Belle Meade, and Robert Green, an authority on thoroughbred breeding.
Jones re-joined Belle Meade before the tour launched and contributed her voice to the content. She explains, “Typically, when slavery is discussed on plantations, it was usually kind of whitewashed, for lack of better words, using terminology like ‘these were good slave owners’ or ‘the enslaved were happy,’ ‘they were fed well.’ Things that were kind of blanket statements and efforts of not making visitors feel uncomfortable with the reality of enslavement.” But Jones is a descendent of enslaved Tennesseans. She had family on the Ames Plantation in Grand Junction, TN. Her family told her stories of the ramifications of slavery saying, “it was very, very personal for me to be able to tell the unvarnished truth, whether it makes your feelings hurt or not.”
Brigette Jones, director of Equitable Partnerships, on a tour at Belle Meade. Photo Credit: Alana Watson for WPLN
Jones feels that telling the story of slavery can help people understand current racial issues. Laws and socioeconomic factors in place during slavery directly impact racism today—from health and equity to policing of black communities and how Black people are represented in the media.
Jones shares why representation is crucial at places like Belle Meade, “Just like there's power in place, there's power in person.” Belle Meade’s typical visitors are white. She says many of the visitors have not heard the story of slavery from someone who is Black. “A lot of white people that I have met in my time at Belle Meade honestly have not been around a lot of Black people on a personal level, so I am usually a lot of people's first encounter with close proximity blackness.” She believes there’s tremendous impact in “hearing such a heart-wrenching story from someone who's Black.”
Jones is now the director of Equitable Partnerships at Belle Meade, where she explores opportunities for reparative actions and directs proceeds to benefit the Nashville community. Belle Meade established an annual scholarship for Tennessee State University, a historically Black College. The scholarship is awarded to a freshman with a major in history and a focus on Black studies. They have also partnered with the John Early Museum Magnet Middle School in Nashville, TN. Jones and Belle Meade also encourage more students to pursue historic preservation through internship programs focusing on the story and interpretation of enslavement. She says, “I do feel like I shouldn’t be the only Black person in Tennessee doing this work.” Additionally, they partner with the People’s Free Breakfast Program, which feeds hundreds of students for free during the summer.
Jones says they are always looking for partners and support for their community outreach. If you’d like to help, email info@visitbellemeade.com
Note: Throughout this series, we will follow the AP Style Book and use the term people of color when referring to people of any race other than non-Hispanic white. We sincerely apologize in advance if this choice creates discomfort, and we welcome any reader to contact us and continue the discussion.
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