An 87-year-old woman toured the former slave cabin where she was born as part of a museum exhibit.
Isabell Meggett Lucas visited her childhood home Tuesday with family members at the National Museum of African-American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., reported WRC-TV.
The cabin was the only one left of nearly a dozen that were built in 1853 at the Point of Pines Plantation in Edisto Island, S.C.
The land and cabins were originally owned by Charles Bailey, who acquired his wealth in the slave trade, but Lucas said she was unaware as a child that her home had housed slaves.
“When I was a child, we’d get out and play and climb trees.” Lucas said. “I remember my grandmother cooking and feeding us."
Lucas slept in one of the cabin's two bedrooms with her nine brothers, while her parents shared the other room.
She was raised by her grandmother, who she believed was her mother, but learned the truth after the older woman's death.
The cabin had no electricity or running water, and the family raised chickens and hogs.
Her mother, who was also born there, lived in the cabin until 1981, when its owners sold the property, and the home was given to the Edisto Island Historic Preservation Society until it was transported piece by piece at the national museum.
“I never knew this all would come to pass,” Lucas said. “Everybody is excited and happy.”
