We arrived in Plains in mid-afternoon on Tuesday, staying in Americus- a lovely nearby town that is somewhat larger than Plains. Since it was still early, we took a drive into Plains, traveling by large cotton fields and fields of green leafy plants that we rightly assumed to be peanuts. There is a peanut processing plant just on the edge of town. Dale was fascinated with the idea of how they were processed- coming out of the ground so dirty, but very clean when you buy them in the shell... The downtown (just one street with buildings on one side of the street) has a large banner, announcing the town as the home of Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States. In spite of that distinction, Plains appears to have maintained the atmosphere of a small agricultural town.
In 1987, Congress designated a portion of the town as Jimmy Carter National Historic Site. The site is comprised of his boyhood farm and home, his high school (where he met Rosalyn), his current residence which is not open to the public, and the railroad depot that served as his presidential campaign headquarters. In addition to the national park sites, the preserved area includes a historic district and agricultural lands in and around the town.
We arrived too late in the day to tour any of the park sites, so made plans to return the next morning. Our hotel registration person should have been a tour director. When we told her our plans, she enthusiastically expanded on what we should see in Plains. She then informed us about Andersonville National Historic Site, which was the site of a Confederate prisoner of war prison, and the National Prisoner of War Museum and Memorial. We had not been aware of its existence in this area. It sounded like a second night stay would be needed to see everything. In addition to sightseeing advice, she sent us to a great little restaurant in historic downtown Americus, The Station, for dinner.
Our tour of Plains the next morning started at the high school, where quotes from Jimmy's most influential teacher have been painted on the walls. Both Jimmy and Rosalyn attended grammar and high school in this building. There is still a classroom set up the way it was when he was a student there (brought back memories...), an informative film on his life leading up to and including his presidency, and a display of projects and other information on the Carter Foundation. The Foundation does humanitarian works in many third world countries. The Foundation, as well as the Carter Presidential Library, are located just outside Atlanta.
Our next tour stop was the boyhood home and farm, about 2 miles outside of the downtown area. The National Park Service now owns 15 acres of the original 360 acre farm. The farm grew cotton, peanuts, and corn to sell as well as vegetables and livestock for use by the family. In addition to the house, there are several other buildings on the site- farm buildings, a windmill, a commissary where his father sold seed and other necessities to neighboring farms. There are still some animals on the farm, including an acrobatic goat (aren't they all?) and a fat cat lazing in the sun.
We toured the house and walked the grounds of the small farm area. The interior of the house reveals how simply the Carter's lived, and he notes in his writings what a significant change came to the farm with the introduction of electricity. They were considered prosperous by the local standards. He grew up working the farm alongside African-American employees, some of whom were his childhood friends. This may have influenced his views on Civil Rights. This quote by him was posted in the high school: "I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over...The test of a government is not how popular it is with the powerful and privileged few, but how honestly and fairly it deals with the many who most depend upon it." Wise words that still apply today!
Our last tour stop was the train depot in downtown Plains. The depot is the oldest building in Plains, and was used as the headquarters for the 1976 campaign. The building was chosen because it was the only empty building in town that had a restroom! Jimmy's campaign was managed by local people, and supported with local people stuffing envelopes, making phone calls, and doing fundraisers. Many speeches were given with this little building as a backdrop. When the election was successful, townspeople went to the inauguration - along with Jimmy and Rosalyn- on a train dubbed "The Peanut Express", leaving from that depot! By the way, the infamous Billy Carter's gas station also still stands...
It was an interesting tour and definitely worth doing if you are in the area- or even as a weekend get away!
By the way, it was interesting to note that Rosalyn has established a Butterfly Trail, with the focus on native plantings that attract pollinators. Information on how to establish a butterfly garden and join the trail is at www.jimmycarter.info.
We wandered into a few of the shops on the main street- a couple of gift shops, one with presidential memorabilia from many different eras, and an antique shop. We had lunch in the local coffee shop- busy!- which was great. We were able to talk to a few locals while enjoying lunch. We followed it up next door by trying a local favorite- peanut butter ice cream! Dale asked some questions about peanut processing, and made the suggestion that they have an area in town set up to demonstrate the process. We were now fortified for our afternoon visit to Andersonville.
Andersonville is the most infamous of Civil War prisons, but was certainly not the only one. There were approximately 150 others located around the country. In spite of laws adopted by both the Confederacy and the Union in 1863 to protect prisoners, 56,000 prisoners of war died. None of these prisons were designed to hold the 1000's of prisoners that lived and died in them. There were some informal prisoner exchanges, some prisons paroled prisoners to decrease the need to feed and house them, and in 1862, a formal system was developed to exchange prisoners. However, this fell apart when the Confederacy refused to exchange black U.S. soldiers. As a result, all of these prisons became terribly overcrowded. Later in the war, there was not enough to feed and care for fighting soldiers, let alone prisoners of war. Disease, starvation, and exposure resulted in the deaths of thousands.
The museum is a modern building with extensive displays about the prisoner of war experience, beginning during the Revolutionary War and continuing on to present day. They show two 1/2 hour films- one on Andersonville specifically, with actors reciting from writings of some of these prisoners, vividly describing their horrible experience. The second film is on the prisoner of war experience. John McCain was one of those interviewed for this film. His, and the heroism of all the others, is unmistakable. Because of his father's position in the military, he was offered an early release by his captors. However, he refused to go "out of order", and remained a prisoner for years awaiting his turn. By the end of that film, I was in tears...
The grounds of the prison itself consist of rolling, grassy hills with a partial corner wall reconstructed to resemble the stockade fencing of the compound, and three brick columns noting the other three corners. Interspersed are white stakes marking the line of the fencing and an interior line of stakes marking the "dead zone", warning that prisoners would be shot immediately if they passed this line. There are a number of memorials on the property from different states, representing those state citizens who died here. The open, quiet expanse feels appropriate for a place were so many died. There are still earthworks surrounding the location where cannon were housed- some pointing out, some pointing in at the prison...
Also on the grounds is Andersonville National Cemetery, which was established in 1865 to honor deceased veterans. The first interments were of prisoners who died in the prison. Many of these men were placed in unmarked graves, listed simply as a number. One of the Union soldiers assigned to work in the hospital recorded the names and locations of the deceased, then secretly copied it and smuggled it out when he was released. After the war, he returned to the site with Clara Barton, the founder of the Red Cross, who was looking for missing soldiers. They were able to arrange an expedition to the prison to mark the graves of the dead, allowing families to locate their graves. When you walk through the cemetery, it is evident how close together the old gravestones are placed- marked with just numbers, marking the mass graves.
This was certainly not an uplifting experience as the last stop on our trip. However, I feel it is something that is important to see and understand. As I mentioned, a great weekend excursion from the Lowcountry..
Tomorrow, we are headed home. I will put in one more entry once I figure all of our "trip statistics".
I think it is appropriate to end this entry with another quote from Jimmy-
"War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together by killing each other's children."
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