What is the Woodland Plantation Museum and Cultural Center? 

The Woodland Plantation Museum and Cultural Center is a descendant-led site created by
The Descendants Project to tell the full story of this land. It is a space where people can
engage the past in ways that are honest, participatory, and grounded in community. Through
storytelling, music, exhibitions, public programs, and immersive experiences, Woodland
connects history to the present and invites people to reflect, learn, gather, and help shape
how these stories are carried forward.

Why is Woodland both a museum and a cultural center? 

Woodland is more than a place to view exhibitions. It is also a space for gathering, reflection,
learning, and community care. Alongside exhibitions, Woodland is growing as a place where
people can spend time in the library and media room, sit outdoors, ground themselves on
the land, join public programs, and return in ways that feel meaningful to them. We call it a
cultural center because we want Woodland to be a living site of exchange, memory, and
community presence, not just a place of observation.

How is Woodland different from other plantation museums or tours? 

Plantation tourism often presents an incomplete and inaccurate version of history that obscures the violence and enduring legacy of slavery. Woodland takes a different approach by speaking truth, honoring descendant communities, and connecting past injustice to what people are experiencing today. Rather than passive observation, Woodland invites people to engage history in a way that is participatory, community-grounded, and connected to the present.

What can visitors expect when they come to Woodland? 

Visitors can expect an experience that moves beyond passive observation. Through exhibitions, guided walks, recorded oral histories, sound, and other interactive opportunities, visitors can engage with the land and the stories it holds. Woodland intentionally creates space for reflection, learning, and a deeper understanding of how the legacy of slavery continues to shape the present.

What does it mean that Woodland is descendant-led?

Being descendant-led means that the voices, histories, and lived experiences of descendant communities are centered in how the story of this land is told. Woodland creates space for descendant communities to shape how these stories are carried forward, helping ensure that the work remains accountable to community and connected to lived experience.

How does Woodland connect history to present-day issues like environmental racism?

Woodland connects history to the present by showing how the legacy of slavery continues to shape communities today. In Louisiana’s River Parishes, that legacy persists through environmental racism, land dispossession, and economic extraction. By making these connections visible, Woodland helps visitors understand that past injustice is not over. It lives on in the conditions communities continue to face now.

Why is this museum opening now?

This moment calls for spaces that speak truthfully about history and its ongoing impacts. At a time when Black history is too often minimized, distorted, or erased from public life, Woodland offers a space that honors descendant communities and connects past injustice to the present. It responds to the realities facing communities today while creating opportunities for reflection, learning, and action.

Is Woodland only for people taking a tour or visiting exhibitions?

No. Woodland is being shaped as a space where people are welcome to be present even beyond a formal museum visit. Whether someone comes to engage an exhibition, attend a program, spend time in the library or media room, sit outside, or simply be on the grounds, that presence matters. Woodland values that kind of reciprocity and exchange as part of what makes the site alive.

What is Community Day?

Community Day is Woodland’s monthly public gathering space for community connection, shared resources, and engagement with the site. It is a chance to visit Woodland in a way that may include fellowship, public programming, and access to community-centered offerings that extend beyond the museum galleries.

What is the Community Closet?

The Community Closet is part of Woodland’s Community Day. It offers new and gently worn clothing, shoes, and other select items to community members at no cost. The goal is simple: to create a space of material care, dignity, and mutual support.

How can I donate to the Community Closet?

We welcome donations of new and gently worn clothing and shoes in clean, usable condition. Financial contributions to support the Community Closet are also welcome and help us sustain the offering over time.

What kinds of items can be donated to the Community Closet? 

We currently accept new and gently worn clothing and shoes. All donated items should be clean, in good condition, and ready to be used by someone else with dignity and ease.

Is the museum free?

Woodland Plantation Museum and Cultural Center is free and open to the public. Donations are welcomed and help support exhibitions, preservation, public programs, and community care initiatives such as the Community Closet.

How can I support Woodland?

You can support Woodland by making a financial contribution, donating eligible items to the Community Closet, attending programs, sharing our work, and helping us build a sustainable descendant-led future for public history and cultural life in the River Parishes.

I believe my family are descendants of Woodland Plantation. How can I learn more about our genealogical connection to this land?

As we continue to develop genealogical resources for the Woodland descendant community in St. John, we welcome those who are researching other Woodlands to reach out and connect with us. 

However, there are many challenges in conducting descendant genealogical research in southeastern Louisiana, especially in researching the lives of those who were enslaved on Louisiana plantations and those who lived in the communities that formed around them after Emancipation. Many of the same plantation names were re-used in multiple parishes, and we are aware of a number of “Woodland Plantations” in Louisiana. Likewise, the Woodland Plantation of St. John the Baptist Parish was itself called by a number of different names over the course of its history.

Here are some of the other Woodlands we have come across: 
● East Feliciana Parish Woodland Plantation

To pursue a descendant inquiry, please download the of the Descendant Intake and Consent Form by clicking HERE and email a signed copy to woodland@thedescendantsproject.org. We are happy to share information and resources that we may come across in our own research.