The Realms of Oblivion: An Excavation of The Davies Manor Historic Site's Omitted Stories

The Realms of Oblivion explores the complexities involved in reconciling competing versions of history, channeled through Davies Manor, a historic site near Memphis that once centered a wealthy slave-owning family’s sprawling cotton plantation. Interrogating the forces of memorialization that often go unquestioned in the stories we believe about ourselves and our communities, this book simultaneously tells an informative and engrossing bottom-up history--of the Davies family, of the Black families they enslaved and exploited across generations, and of Memphis and Shelby County--while challenging readers to consider just what upholds the survival of that history into the present day.

Written in an engaging and critical style, The Realms of Oblivion is grounded in a rich source base, ranging from nineteenth-century legal records to the personal papers of the Davies family to twentieth-century African American oral histories. Author Andrew C. Ross uses these sources to unearth the stark contrast between the version of Davies Manor’s history that was built out of nostalgia, and the version that records have proven to actually be true. As a result, Ross illuminates the ongoing need for a deep and honest reckoning with the history of the South and of the United States, on the part of both individuals and community institutions such as local historic sites and small museums.

Table of Contents:
Preface
Author’s Note
Introduction: “Omitted in Mass"

Part One: 1700–1842
Chapter 1: The Southside
Chapter 2: God, Grace and Child, and Wonder
Chapter 3: “Laborers in God’s Vineyard”
Chapter 4: A “Mother and Grandmother of All the Others”
Chapter 5: “Blood on the Fence, Blood on the Ground”

Part Two: 1843–1860
Chapter 6: “Garden Spot of the World”
Chapter 7: Fathers and Sons
Chapter 8: Morning Sun Rising
Chapter 9: The Time for Moderation Has Passed

Part Three: 1861–1865
Chapter 10: “Goodbye Pa”
Chapter 11: “Disposed of as Follows”
Chapter 12: “His Erring Children”
Chapter 13: “No-Man’s Land”
Chapter 14: “Honorable Mention”
Chapter 15: “Oh for a Better State of Things!!!”

Part Four: 1865–1893
Chapter 16: “There is Danger of Much Trouble”
Chapter 17: “A Relic of the Old Barbarism”
Chapter 18: A “Terrible State of Frenzy”
Chapter 19: Yearning for the “Days of Yore”
Chapter 20: A “Promising and Pleasant Little Village”

Epilogue: “You Can’t Tell All the Good Parts Unless You Bring in Some of That Bad Part”

Davies Family Tree and Cast of Characters
Bibliography

About the Author :
Andrew C. Ross is the museum director for The Blues Foundation in Memphis, Tennessee. From 2017 to 2022 he worked as the projects director and executive director for the Davies Manor Association, where he led the development of the award-winning exhibit, Omitted in Mass: Rediscovering Lost Narratives of Enslavement, Migration, and Memory Through the Davies Family’s Papers. His writing has appeared in Memphis Magazine, Delta Magazine, Texas Highways, Mississippi Sports Magazine, the Daily Beast, and various newspapers.

Review :
“Andrew Ross’s analysis is original and insightful, and it makes a significant contribution to examinations of Tennessee life. Focusing on the interior lives of individual African Americans connected as enslaved, free, or freed people to the Davies family, The Realms of Oblivion explores race and class in the rural South.” - Beverly G. Bond, editor of Remembering the Memphis Massacre: An American Story

“The Realms of Oblivion follows a trend of exciting scholarship that uses micro-histories, specifically family histories, to analyze the history of westward expansion, plantation slavery, and disunion.” - Jessica Blake, assistant professor of history, Austin Peay State University