Shadows on the Teche: Our Educational Mission
Shadows-on-the-Teche's primary educational objective centers on assisting visitors to develop an understanding of life on a 19th century sugar plantation.
| Who Lived
at the Shadows? |
Where on
our site to find additional Information? |
| Four generations of the Weeks Family lived at the Shadows from 1834-1958. | Family History |
| The first generation included Mary Conrad Weeks, wife of builder David Weeks and their six children: Frances, William, Alfred, Harriet, Charles and David. Mary Weeks's husband David never actually lived at the house, dying just four months after his family moved in. | Family History |
| Many people lived in the house and in the shadows of the house, contributing to the rich legacy of the Shadows. | |
| During the period before the Civil War, enslaved people lived and worked at the Shadows. Their living area behind the main house was referred to as, "the quarters." The main jobs for the enslaved included caring for the house, working in the garden and maintaining the property. Some of the enslaved who lived, worked and died at the Shadows were Louisa, Isaac, Riley, Caroline, Amos, Patty, Charity and Charlotte. | |
| The history of the Shadows is recorded in many family letters, inventories and receipts which each generation saved. | General History |
| The final family owner of the Shadows was the great-grandson of Mary Conrad Weeks, William Weeks Hall | Family History |
| Weeks Hall wished the Shadows to be a museum for all people to visit and appreciate the architecture of the house and the setting of the gardens he designed. | |
| Today, the Shadows-on-the-Teche tells the story of the house, the gardens, four generations of the Weeks family, the enslaved who supported the family's lifestyle, and the sugarcane which made all of this possible. | Sugarcane Plantation History |
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