Although both of these plantation tours are extremities of types of museums, they do fulfill the purpose of a museum, which is preserving items or areas of historical importance and sharing them to educate the general public. Because of what defines museums, I would consider plantation tours as a form of “museums”. However, this means that the organization planning the tours for their visitors have to effectively communicate the message meant to be communicated, rather than ignoring or forgetting important yet detrimental aspects of our country’s past.

Two huge differences I recognized between the Whitney Plantation and the Oak Alley Plantation are the images posted and language used as soon as you enter the website. The Whitney Plantation, a much more informed representation of history, focuses on slavery and prevents visitors from ignoring what happened to people in this plantation space. It humanizes the distant knowledge we have of slaves by putting faces to stories through its images and language. It gives an honest perspective and strives to make visitors think about what people really went through in this time period, which should be the purpose of a museum.

I admired how the slideshow of pictures posted on the Home Page really showed the gravity of slavery, and did not intend to be a beautiful or fun tourist location. The words that they use concentrate on simplicity, making sure the readers understand how this museum aims to bring empathy and critical understanding for their visitors about Louisiana’s dark past. This mirrors the impact of the United States Manzanar National Historic Site, which depicts the daily confinement of Japanese American citizens in internment camps during World War II. Just like the Whitney Plantation, its stories serve as a reminder to future generation of the seriousness of respecting our civil liberties.

Unlike this, I don’t think that the Oak Alley Plantation “Restaurant and Inn” should be classified as a museum. By presenting itself as a magnificent tourist location filled with photo spots, it doesn’t fulfill its purpose of educating the public and bringing awareness to issues of injustice and oppression. It is painted through its images and words as a place to eat, drink, stay overnight in a comfortable cottage, and focuses on intricate designs and chef’s specials rather than the real problems that this plantation created. It claims to be a location that “preserves rich history”, but never once mentions the word slavery on the main pages or tabs of the website. It replaces the grave accounts of African American people that took place on those very grounds with a wedding ceremony place or photography contests. Therefore, I would consider visiting only the Whitney Plantation, which I think is an actual museum.