Existing comment:
Life in the Men's Bunk Room
Does this room seem empty? During the day, the space was nearly vacant. Most of its occupants worked from dawn to dusk as enslaved house servants, skilled craftsmen, and laborers. Only those too young, too old, or too sick to work were allowed to remain. After sunset, the bunk room grew crowded. Ten to twenty male slaves of varying ages slept here, perhaps two per bunk.
Some of the men who may have lived here included:
* Nat and George, Blacksmiths
* James and Davy, Carpenters
* Dundee and Charles, Ditchers (dug drainage ditches)
* George and Harry, Gardeners
* Christopher Sheels and Marcus, House Servants
* Joe and Wilson, Postillions (carriage-horse riders)
Why Bunk Rooms?
When the greenhouse slave quarters were built in the early 1790s, most Virginia slaves lived in single or double family cabins. The unusual barracks-style bunk rooms were useful here because most of the 59 adult slaves at the Mansion House Farm were either single men, or men whose jobs required them to live apart from their families six days a week.
Building the Bunks:
The original bunks were built in April 1792. Enslaved bricklayer Muclus laid "foundations for the sills for the berths." Slave carpenter Christopher planed planks and helped to "put up" the berths. The replicas you see were built by Mount Vernon's restoration staff in 2010. The design and dimensions are based on barracks occupied by Continental Army troops during George Washington's 1781-1782 winter camp in New Windsor, New York. Like soldiers, slaves covered the wooden bunks with straw and replaced it periodically. |