Slavery at The Octagon - Photo 2

This photograph shows a folded mattress on the kitchen floor at the Octagon. Enslaved people often slept on mattresses like in the spaces that they worked. The cook would have simply rolled out the mattress at the end of a long day and slept right in the kitchen. Mattresses were also placed outside of bedrooms so enslaved people could wait upon their owners at all hours of the day and night.