Katy Morlas Shannon & The Enslaved Man behind the Pecan Industry

The Poor Prole’s Almanac

Bleav + The Poor Prole’s Alamanac

Home & Garden, Science, Nature, Leisure, Education, How To

5 • 761 Ratings

🗓️ 1 January 2024

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, we're joined by author and historian Katy Morlas Shannon to discuss her book "Antoine of Oak Alley". The story of Antoine is emblematic of countless enslaved people whose lives and contributions have been overlooked. Antoine, the enslaved gardener of Oak Alley Plantation, was one of the first people to successfully propagate the pecan tree, yet he exists only as a footnote in the bigger story of Oak Alley Plantation. His pioneering work enabled large groves of trees to be planted creating a lucrative commercial crops and though his horticultural achievement has long been legend, virtually nothing is known about his life. In this episode, we chat about how we reconstruct these types of histories and how we engage with these complicated stories from a vastly different time. Check out Katy's work and other books at: https://www.katymshannon.com/ Check out the corresponding substack article for resources, citations, and more information! https://poorprolesalmanac.substack.com/p/pecans To support this podcast, join our patreon for early episode access at https://www.patreon.com/poorprolesalmanac For PPA Writing Content, visit: www.agroecologies.org For PPA Restoration Content, visit: www.restorationagroecology.com For PPA Merch, visit: www.poorproles.com For PPA Native Plants, visit: www.nativenurseries.org To hear Tomorrow, Today, our sister podcast, visit: www.tomorrowtodaypodcast.org/

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, folks, welcome back. My name is Andy, and today I'm excited to talk history with author and historian Katie Morales-Shannon.
0:21.6	Her book, Antoine of Oak Alley, highlights the story of the birth of pecan grafting
0:26.1	and the complex relationships which surrounded this process between slave owners and the enslaved.
0:32.0	We talk about the complex power relationships around the plantation and how plantation communities
0:37.0	existed as microcosms of the world
0:39.4	surrounding them. Katie received her bachelor's in English and master's in history from Louisiana State
0:44.9	University. She has been a professional historian for over 15 years and has dedicated her
0:50.4	careers to uncovering the stories of the enslaved on plantations lining Louisiana's River Road.
0:56.4	Her work includes crucial early research for Whitney Plantation, an exhibit at Laura Plantation
1:01.8	entitled From the Big House to the Quarters, Slavery on Laura Plantation, and a searchable online
1:07.6	database of over 400 individuals enslaved on Evergreen Plantation.
1:12.4	To go check out Katie's work, see the links included in the show notes. Now, let's get into it.
1:21.3	Katie, thanks so much for coming on. Tell us a little bit about who you are and the book that
1:26.7	we're about to talk about.
1:28.0	Well, my name is Katie Morloss, Shannon.
1:30.5	I've been a historian for 20 years now.
1:33.6	I received my master's in history from Louisiana State University many moons ago, and I specialized in enslaved communities along the River Road and along the Mississippi River in Louisiana.
1:48.5	And I've worked for several different plantations over the years, designed exhibits there.
1:53.8	And my book is Antoine of Oak Alley.
1:57.3	It's about the enslaved gardener at Oak Alley Plantation, who was the first to propagate the
2:04.5	pecan, which led to the commercial production of the pecan. Yeah, so we just recently released
2:11.7	an episode on, as I've been pronouncing a pecan, it depends, I guess, where you're from,
	...

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