Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation: 1838-1839

Recorded during the winter and spring of 1838‑1839, this diary offers a rare, first‑hand view of life on a rice and cotton plantation at the mouth of Georgia’s Altamaha River. The author, a young woman among the planter elite, writes letters to a confidante that blend daily details with broader moral reflections. Through her entries listeners hear the river’s rhythm, the cadence of field work, and the stark contrast between the genteel world above and the enslaved community below, whose labor and yearning for freedom are described with striking clarity.

The journal does not shy away from the contradictions used to justify bondage; it wrestles with arguments that compare the enslaved to European peasants or even to beasts, and counters them with a fierce belief in personal liberty. Observations of the enslaved people’s language, resilience, and moments of unexpected kindness reveal a humanity often denied by the era’s rhetoric. Listeners will be drawn into an intimate portrait of a vanished world, hearing the author’s doubts and hopes, and reflecting on how those historic injustices echo today.