You are standing in front of a reader rail titled “Window on the Past: Working in the Fields.” To your left is a graphic panel titled “House History: 1841 House.” To your right is a graphic panel titled “Breaking Free from Britain.”

The reader rail in front of you includes text and two images.

The main text reads:

WINDOW ON THE PAST
Working in the Fields
If you looked out this window in 1841, you might have seen enslaved people working in the fields from dawn to dusk. Tobacco was a labor-intensive crop, which required backbreaking labor and a large workforce. Between 1729 and 1865, hundreds of enslaved people worked on the Sellmans’ plantation. Plantation owners also commonly leased their slaves to others for a profit.

An accompanying print shows two African American women digging with hoes as a white man, smoking a pipe, watches over them. The caption reads: Enslaved people faced long hours, harsh conditions, and cruel punishments.

A black-and-white drawing shows enslaved men carrying and hanging tobacco leaves in a tobacco barn.