Exhibits - Current, Past, and Upcoming

UPCOMING – NOVEMBER and DECEMBER 2025

Historic Rosedale’s exhibit “Christmastide of the Enslaved” enlightens visitors to the realities of those enslaved individuals working on plantations during the holidays. Throughout their three-day Christmas respite, which was standard in the South, many enslaved people engaged in festivities that included music, dancing, communal meals, and the receipt of gifts. Their holiday jubilation masked a general longing for freedom and prosperity that festered during the rest of their days. They might have appeared happy at Christmas, especially in the presence of those who kept them in bondage, but they could hardly forget the daily threats of family separation that abridged their liberty, especially during this time of year when their owner’s debt’s were due.

Before and after the widespread Christianization of African captives in the American South, the enslaved Christmas festivities celebrated survival and fellowship in the face of great adversity. In other words, even in the midst of oppression and pain, they created moments of joy and found love in spite of their circumstances.