You are standing in front of a graphic panel titled “House History: Entrance Hall and Stairway.” To your left is a doorway leading to section five of the exhibition: From Emancipation to Jim Crow. To your right is a doorway leading to section four of the exhibition: A New Nation. Behind you and to your left is section six of the exhibition: SERC’s Story.

The panel in front of you includes text and five images.

The main text reads:

HOUSE HISTORY
Entrance Hall and Stairway

What was this space used for?
This wide entrance hall and grand stairway were designed to impress guests arriving at Woodlawn. Large doorways lead to the front parlor and dining room, which were used for entertaining. Enslaved people, servants, and tradesmen used another entrance.

A photo at the top of the panel shows the grand stairway, seen from above.

The remaining four images are headlined “House History Clues”:

A photo of the entrance to the house flanked by Doric columns.

A photo of the windows surrounding the front door, which are decorated with lead tracery.

A photo of the side of the stairway, which is decorated with a wave motif.

A photo showing a signature found on the underside of a stair tread. Architectural historians think this was left by William M. Olmstead, a carpenter from Ridgefield, Connecticut, in 1841.