Ceremonial Chair

Made of Louisiana cypress wood, this chair is a piece of Leighton Place Plantation, home of Leonidas Polk, Episcopal Bishop of Louisiana and the founder of the University of the South (Sewanee). Enslaved carpenters, father and son Altimore and Taylor McKeethen, likely constructed this chair between 1841 and 1864. This chair not only symbolizes the connections between slavery and the Episcopal Church in Louisiana, it also signifies the relationship between slavery and higher education. The early wealth and stability of the University of the South rested on the backs of an estimated 40,000 enslaved people held in bondage by the first 295 donors of the university. Their labor ensured that the university would be successful as it sought to educate white men of the South. After emancipation, Altimore and Taylor continued to work as carpenters in New Orleans. Due to Polk’s founding of the university, this chair was an essential part of university ceremonies until recent years.