Telling the Full History of the Shadows

The history of the Shadows extends far beyond the mansion and members of the Weeks family who owned the property from 1834 to 1958. As a former plantation, the story of the Shadows belongs to the individuals enslaved on the site and their descendants as much as it does the Weeks family. It is a story of those who settled along the banks of the Teche to reap the benefits of—and later exploit—the richness of its soil. It is the story of those who built and preserved this unique mansion and of those who toiled under a brutal system of enslavement, building its wealth but also the community, culture, and customs that continue to define the bayou region.