Comments on: Enslaved Community at UVA http://www.locohistory.org/blog/albemarle/2007/05/22/enslaved-community-at-uva/ One faces the future with one's past — Pearl S. Buck Tue, 06 Jan 2009 08:06:26 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Joycelyn J. Young http://www.locohistory.org/blog/albemarle/2007/05/22/enslaved-community-at-uva/#comment-11976 Joycelyn J. Young Fri, 26 Dec 2008 18:48:13 +0000 http://www.locohistory.org/blog/2007/05/22/enslaved-community-at-uva/#comment-11976 My father, Herbert Johnson, was a student at UVA Law during the 1920's. He came from Conyers, Georgia, and due to his meager financial circumstances, had a need for affordable housing. The story goes that he approached the University president at the time, and suggested fixing up the only old servant's quarters still standing. The president let him live there free for several years in exchange for his renovations. He is the one who came up with the name Cracker Box. My father married my mother during those years, the former Cornelia Staley of 14th St. in Charlottesville, and when she joined him at the Cracker Box, she became the first woman (non-faculty) to live in the UVA Campus. My father became a successful lawyer in Atlanta. He was proud of his connection to UVA and the Cracker Box. We always visited it when we were on campus. Joycelyn Young BS '50, M.Ed. '51. My father, Herbert Johnson, was a student at UVA Law during the 1920’s. He came from Conyers, Georgia, and due to his meager financial circumstances, had a need for affordable housing. The story goes that he approached the University president at the time, and suggested fixing up the only old servant’s quarters still standing. The president let him live there free for several years in exchange for his renovations. He is the one who came up with the name Cracker Box.

My father married my mother during those years, the former Cornelia Staley of 14th St. in Charlottesville, and when she joined him at the Cracker Box, she became the first woman (non-faculty) to live in the UVA Campus.

My father became a successful lawyer in Atlanta. He was proud of his connection to UVA and the Cracker Box. We always visited it when we were on campus.

Joycelyn Young BS ‘50, M.Ed. ‘51.

]]> By: Lynn Rainville http://www.locohistory.org/blog/albemarle/2007/05/22/enslaved-community-at-uva/#comment-532 Lynn Rainville Thu, 24 May 2007 16:38:52 +0000 http://www.locohistory.org/blog/2007/05/22/enslaved-community-at-uva/#comment-532 Reply from the Senior Historic Preservation Planner at the University of Virginia, Brian Hogg.... The crackerbox certainly is an early building, and as a kitchen would presumably been occupied by the hotel keeper's slave(s). The hotel keeper's name is known, and it would be interesting to track him, his family and records down. That said, the important part of Crackerbox's history is that it survives as an example of something which was far from unique – buildings popped up and disappeared frequently in the gardens from the time the place opened. It's clear from the Bursar and BOV [Board of Visitors] records that many of them were outbuildings and service buildings for the Pavilions and Hotels, so the African-American presence was probably great in these structures. Rivanna Archaeological Services found the foundations for a two-room building near Pavilion VI this spring. McGuffy Cottage is a later example of one of these buildings, and buried somewhere in the pile that is The Mews is another ante-bellum support structure. One Poe Alley is a 1960s recreation, based only on the footprint of a building known to have been present on that site as late as the late 19th century. Brian E. Hogg Senior Historic Preservation Planner Office of the Architect for the University of Virginia Reply from the Senior Historic Preservation Planner at the University of Virginia, Brian Hogg….

The crackerbox certainly is an early building, and as a kitchen would presumably been occupied by the hotel keeper’s slave(s). The hotel keeper’s name is known, and it would be interesting to track him, his family and records down. That said, the important part of Crackerbox’s history is that it survives as an example of something which was far from unique – buildings popped up and disappeared frequently in the gardens from the time the place opened. It’s clear from the Bursar and BOV [Board of Visitors] records that many of them were outbuildings and service buildings for the Pavilions and Hotels, so the African-American presence was probably great in these structures. Rivanna Archaeological Services found the foundations for a two-room building near Pavilion VI this spring. McGuffy Cottage is a later example of one of these buildings, and buried somewhere in the pile that is The Mews is another ante-bellum support structure. One Poe Alley is a 1960s recreation, based only on the footprint of a building known to have been present on that site as late as the late 19th century.

Brian E. Hogg
Senior Historic Preservation Planner
Office of the Architect for the University of Virginia

]]>