Date of Award
5-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Historic Preservation
Committee Chair/Advisor
Frances Ford
Committee Member
Stéphanie Cretté
Committee Member
Willie Graham
Committee Member
Jobie Hill
Committee Member
Sarah Stroud Clarke
Abstract
This research sought to discover what analytical methods would allow a preservationist to access, analyze, and interpret the agency enslaved people had in selecting the interior finishes of their living quarters. Ten sites ranging in construction from 1712 to 1847 were analyzed including: Lavington Plantation Slave-Quarters, Drayton Hall Cellar, Nathaniel Russell House Kitchen-Quarters, Aiken-Rhett Slave-Quarters, John Fullerton House Kitchen-Quarters, 38 Church Street Kitchen-Quarters, 72 Anson Street Kitchen-Quarters, 54 Hasell Street Kitchen-Quarters, Capers-Motte House Kitchen-Quarters, and the Heyward House Kitchen-Quarters. Photomicrographs collected by the author and conservationist Dr. Susan Buck were organized to examine the layers of pigments. Munsell Colors were assigned to samples taken by the author, with all three sites exhibiting variations of yellow ochre and a neutral cream. Findings suggest that finishes were chosen based on what was accessible and contemporary at the time of construction. However, it can be said that the warm pigments found throughout each site inherently affected the identity of its enslaved inhabitants, suggested by habitus or place identity. It can be concluded that paint analysis of historic interiors, in conjunction with primary sources such as newspapers, historic property research, and an investigation of the lives of the enslaved may lead a preservationist into further study of agency. Data generated in this thesis can be used to provide context to the development of finishes in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as well as the enslaved lives in South Carolina.
Recommended Citation
Castro-Bailey, Lyrik, "Choices Behind the Color: An Analysis of Paint Finish Variations in South Carolina Slave Dwellings" (2024). All Theses. 4255.
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/4255