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US 'Honor Roll' of Historic Places Often Ignores Slavery

Associated Press

   BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - Antebellum Southern plantations were built on the
   backs of enslaved people, and many of those plantations hold places of
   honor on the National Register of Historic Places -- but don't look for
   many mentions of slavery in the government's official record of places
   with historic significance.

   The register's written entries on the plantations tend to say almost
   nothing about the enslaved people who picked the cotton and tobacco or
   cut the sugar cane that paid for ornate homes that today serve as
   wedding venues, bed-and-breakfast inns, tourist attractions and private
   homes -- some of which tout their inclusion on the National Register
   like a gold star.

   The National Register of Historic Places lists more than 95,000 sites
   that are important to the story of the United States. From some of the
   most famous places -- such as George Washington's Mount Vernon estate
   -- to scores of lesser-known plantation homes in the rural South,
   register entries often ignore the topic of slavery or mention it only
   in passing, an Associated Press review found.

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