the duponts, especially william and annie dupont, had actually lived in europe for a number of years before coming back to america where they chose to settle out here in western virginia. so they were coming into a different social atmosphere than they were accustomed to. either in delaware or where weather tthe family was in europe. and in the south, things were segregated. they were in the north to a lesser extent and certainly they weren't in europe. since he was living in the south, he to abide by customs, with a segregated set of waiting rooms. there were segregated kitchens and dining rooms for the laborers. segregated housing, and yet when it came to work, he gave people autonomy, based on their merit. his building foreman on the property was mitchell jackson, cho w who is a black man descended from one of the slaves at montpelier. another black man was one of the chief horse trainers. they did not segregate when it came to jobs and getting the best men for the job. as we leave this space and go over to the other side of the building, we have the freedom to do that today. from

the duponts especially william and annie dupont, had actually lived in europe for a number of years before coming back to america, were they chose to settle out here in western virginia. so they were coming into a different social atmosphere than what they were accustomed to, either in delaware, where the family was, or in europe certainly. and in the south, things were segregated. they were in the north as well, but not to the same extent and certainly they were not in europe, but because he was living in the south, he had to abide by social customs here with a segregated set of waiting rooms for the people who worked on his estate. there were segregated kitchens, and segregated dining rooms for the laborers. there were segregated housing, and yet when it came to work, it gave people autonomy that was based on their merit. his building coreman on the property was mitchell jackson, a black man, descended from one of the slaves at montpelier. another african-american gentleman was one of the dupont's chief horse trainers. so they did not segregate when it came to jobs and getting the best m