1 min
Listening Station 6: Family Dining Room Telfair Museums Owens-Thomas House & Slave Quarters Audio Tour
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- History
Each of the rooms in the Owens-Thomas House & Slave Quarters is furnished according to historic records and other resources. While select pieces came from the Richardson and Owens families, most of the objects and art you will see are works from Telfair Museums’ collections that were made or used during the first half of the 19th century.
A range of activities took place in this family dining room, including eating informal meals, reading, learning lessons, playing games, drawing and painting, sewing, or playing musical instruments. It is similar to the ways many families use their kitchens or living rooms today. However, this family would have been served by enslaved servants passing to and from the butler’s pantry, which is located off the right corner.
Though George Owens was the head of his household, when he traveled or was away serving in political office, Sarah Owens oversaw her family, home, and many other aspects of the Owenses’ agricultural pursuits. We know from George’s letters to Sarah that these duties included negotiating the sale or purchase of enslaved laborers. White women in Sarah’s position also commonly held control of and access to some of the expensive food and goods within the home, kept under lock and key in spaces such as the cellar and the butler’s pantry.
As you leave this room, notice, but please don’t touch, the small knobs located on the right side of the door frame. These knobs rang bells in the basement to summon an enslaved servant or cue the next course of a meal.
Each of the rooms in the Owens-Thomas House & Slave Quarters is furnished according to historic records and other resources. While select pieces came from the Richardson and Owens families, most of the objects and art you will see are works from Telfair Museums’ collections that were made or used during the first half of the 19th century.
A range of activities took place in this family dining room, including eating informal meals, reading, learning lessons, playing games, drawing and painting, sewing, or playing musical instruments. It is similar to the ways many families use their kitchens or living rooms today. However, this family would have been served by enslaved servants passing to and from the butler’s pantry, which is located off the right corner.
Though George Owens was the head of his household, when he traveled or was away serving in political office, Sarah Owens oversaw her family, home, and many other aspects of the Owenses’ agricultural pursuits. We know from George’s letters to Sarah that these duties included negotiating the sale or purchase of enslaved laborers. White women in Sarah’s position also commonly held control of and access to some of the expensive food and goods within the home, kept under lock and key in spaces such as the cellar and the butler’s pantry.
As you leave this room, notice, but please don’t touch, the small knobs located on the right side of the door frame. These knobs rang bells in the basement to summon an enslaved servant or cue the next course of a meal.
1 min