{"id":44464,"date":"2018-10-24T11:02:06","date_gmt":"2018-10-24T18:02:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/soulofamerica.com\/?page_id=44464"},"modified":"2020-11-08T20:40:00","modified_gmt":"2020-11-09T04:40:00","slug":"truth-about-the-help","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.soulofamerica.com\/us-cities\/richmond\/truth-about-the-help\/","title":{"rendered":"Truth About The Help"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Maymont

Maymont Mansion<\/p><\/div>\n

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Truth About The Help<\/h2>\n
by Tracy Gross, Soul Of America<\/div>\n
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This season marks the debut of The Help<\/em> movie on DVD, Blu Ray and streaming. I for one will not be buying or renting a copy. Nor will I read the book. My aversion to The Help<\/em> is its crass fictionalization of reality. A significant class of Southern African American women evolved from the legacy of slavery into esteemed domestic workers, who also became champions in the Civil Rights Movement. Those noble activities ranged from supporting the Montgomery Bus Boycott to funding bail money for civil rights protesters. So to me, The Help<\/em>, as a cinematic concept, disrespects that heritage as comic fare with box office chick-flick appeal. <\/p>\n

Instead, I would offer a truer testament to the “Real Help” \u2013 an exhibit in Richmond, Virginia at the Maymont Mansion entitled \u201cIn Service & Beyond\u201d – Domestic Work & Life in a Gilded Age Mansion. It is an authentic documentation of American dualities. There was one house with two worlds, servant and master, as well as Southern Black and White identities from the Civil War thorough Jim Crow Era.<\/p>\n

Maymont House is a 100-acre American estate, once property of the Dooley Family. James H. Dooley (1841-1922) was a native Richmonder and railroad magnate cum businessman. At one point, he was one of the best known Southern men on Wall Street. Maymont was his crown jewel. Built along the James River, it housed elaborate gardens, an arboretum and was designed by then renowned architect, Edgerton Rodgers. His wife was Sallie Mae Dooley (1846-1925). Mrs. Dooley was a socialite daughter of one of Richmond’s first families. <\/p>\n

Ironically, Mrs. Dooley wrote a book not unlike The Help – it was titled Dem Good Old Times. Voiced in black dialect in the style of Joel Chandler Harris, it was a fashionable ladies venture for her day. The book was re-published as a novelty, rather than a vanity piece.<\/p>\n

Upon her death, Mrs. Dooley donated Maymont to the City of Richmond for use as a museum and park. As of 1975, it became the permanent home of the Maymont Foundation, creating a children’s farm and wildlife exhibit of native Virginia flora and fauna. In 2011, it was deemed One of the Great Public Spaces of America by the American Planning Association. <\/p>\n

Maymont House was built as a 33-room, 12,000-square foot family mansion with a live-in 10-person staff and their families. Black staff members descended from slaves, who became paid servants after the Civil War. Maymont is the only extant mansion open to the public in Richmond. That makes it unique as a showcase of the American gilded age country estate. But greater than that, it is a living testimony to the “Real Help.”<\/p>\n