Today the Black Culture and History made their first and only stop for the day at the Bellamy Mansion Museum of History and Design of Art. The Bellamy Mansion is a stewardship property of Preservation North Carolina. This was built by free and enslaved blacks as the city residence of Dr. John D. Bellamy, a prominent planter, physician, and businessman. The Bellamy family moved into this home on the eve of the Civil War, only to be displaced by the conflict. When Wilmington fell in January 1865, the Union forces occupied the house. When the war was ended, Dr. Bellamy reclaimed the property, and it remained the family residence until 1946, when Ellen Bellamy, the last surviving daughter died. After Ellen Bellamy died most of, much of the mansion had been closed for to the public for close to forty-five years. In 1989, the foundation made the decision to share the mansion with the public and donated the property to Preservation North Carolina. After learning the rich past of how the mansion came to the public we walked into the “Negro House.” The “Negro House” is a building that was used to house the slaves. This house included everything that you would find in a modern-day house. For example, this slave house had a laundry room, multiple bedrooms, kitchens, etc. Continuing the tour upstairs we learned how some slaves were licensed, and when they are licensed they are required to wear a tag. There were laws across the South required hired out slaves to be licensed and to wear a metal identification tags. The Bellamy house had separation from their children and their slaves to impress potential business partners which would be in the higher levels of the home.
Written by: Kenneth and Alex
