Woman visits her ‘slave cabin’ birthplace at the African-American Museum
On Tuesday, an 87-year-old woman visited the National Museum of African-American History and Culture to see the cabin where she was born and raised.
Isabell Meggett Lucas was amazed to see the cabin that housed her family of 11 on Edisto Island, South Carolina, at the museum. The two-bedroom cabin had been restored for its historical significance, as it had housed enslaved people since 1853, though the so-called Point of Pines Cabin “slave cabin” was more than history to Lucas.
“I never knew this all would come to pass,” she said. “Everybody is excited and happy.”
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The cabin was originally owned by Charles Bailey, who acquired his fortune through slavery, and is the only one of 10 cabins that were all built in a row that remains standing. Lucas said that she was unaware of the history of the cabin when she was growing up in it. It was simply a place to live for her, and she never thought that she would see it again in the slavery and freedom section of the museum.
“When I was a child, we’d get out and play, and climb trees.” Lucas said. “I remember my grandmother cooking and feeding us.”
Lucas’ mother was the last to live in the cabin and moved out in 1981, when it was sold by the owner. It was given to the Edisto Island Historic Preservation Society and then, eventually, to the Smithsonian before it was taken apart piece by piece and then reconstructed for the museum.
