The Sugarcane Exhibit invites visitors to explore how the crop shaped Oak Alley, how it defined the lives of the plantation’s inhabitants, and the role that it plays in the region today.
The Roman family built an agricultural empire out of “white gold” and the influence their family held in politics, banking and slave trading was powerful. Displays at this exhibit detail the dependent nature of sugarcane and slavery and subsequently the repercussions felt by thousands of people enslaved for the benefit of this high-maintenance yet lucrative crop. Another display takes guests through the process of cultivating sugarcane—planting, growing, harvesting—both in the 1800s and then today, and a video details the continued impact the crop has on the area’s agricultural economy.
