While the true history of The Rose Hall Plantation has been warped by legends, golf courses, wedding ceremonies, for profit tours, and more, Naylor and company were determined to set the record straight. Rose Hall was built on slavery.
Through honoring every slave on record by name and giving detail on their lives, it allows ancestors to get a better understanding of their heritage, and the general population to learn about slavery in a small country like Jamaica.
The image above is the cover of Annie Palmer’s book that propped up the myth of the White Witch.
Oftentimes, slavery is summed up through statistics. Whether it be number of slaves, mortality rate, demographics, etc. What’s lost are the microscopic details that this project highlights which helps bring these slaves back to life.
By reclaiming these erased stories, the project challenges systems of historical erasure and promotes cultural healing, which encourages a more honest, inclusive understanding of the Caribbean’s past and its ongoing legacies of inequality.