slave haven / burkle estate museum

Not as many trap doors and passages as i wouldve expected. Very good information, disorganized but not a waste of time

This was quite good. Really appreciated the informal/verbal narrative while we wandered around the house. Went on a Saturday and tour was quite crowded and disorganized which took away from the tour. Be sure to book ahead and maybe go at an off hour. Some of the narrative seemed speculative. The very end was like a sales pitch for a music CD coupled with an editorial on what's wrong with today's music which detracted from the overall quality of the event.

If you go to Memphis, you have to carve some time out to get to the roots of the struggle for emancipation and all that has followed in our nation's (continuing) dark history. If you go nowhere else, make this your one must visit destination. It can be a little chaotic when it gets busy and the staff do their best, despite themselves, just be patient and understanding if you have to wait for a tour to catch up to yours, timing-wise.The interpreters are fantastic and they manage somehow to transport you to that time and place where this very house and basememnt was one of an incredibly limited means of finding freedom through the underground railroad. You will come away deeply saddened and moved by the experience. If they are ready, you should try to share with your kids as well. No textbook will ever leave them with s an indelible impression of oppression at this place has. I can ask my kids about the song they heard sung here years ago and they remember it like it was yesterday.http://prezi.com/2dqewr_-1jgw/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

Having read good reviews of this museum on TripAdvisor, two of us visited it while in Memphis briefly. Knowing about slavery is just not the same as seeing the actual newspaper advertisements and articles, and the implements that supported it. It was heartbreaking, illuminating, sickening and educational. Elaine and Diane were excellent guides for our two-hour tour.

Our excellent guide Elaine took us through the tour. It was great to know there were some people who sought to right the injustice in society. We need more of them today. Thank you for a thought provoking visit.

I am so glad we went there. I learned a lot. I hope every school in Memphis take there students here. The staff was so friendly and knew a lot. They had a nice museun store and the tour wasn't to long or to short. I enjoyed my visit at the museum even if the slave history is terrible.

My husband and I had some time and decided to find this home and take the tour and we are so glad we did. We visited this home in between Christmas and New Years. The women there that gave the tour had so much history to share that I was my husband were so stunned and amazed with so much history in such a small little home. We learned so much. I am sure I have heard all this in school at one time or another, but to hear this history and the passion coming from these ladies was amazing. This tour was amazing and one of the best tours we took on our trip through Memphis. I am so glad we made the stop. We were probably there over an hour - so don't be discouraged when you see this little home that there isn't much there - because you are wrong - there is so much history there and so much to learn and see. Well worth the stop and I would recommend highly!

I was extremely impressed by my visit to the Slave Haven, in large part because of the tour guide I had today. She was extremely knowledgable about everything in the displays and was able to tie what they have there with other bits of information she thought would be useful/interesting, which I found really helpful being Australian and not really having a great understanding of the American slave trade and the underground railroad. Being able to go into the cellar and actually see how the escaped slaves hid was cool. Overall, my experience at the slave haven really opened my eyes to the realities of slavery and slave escapes in a way that no other museum or exhibit has. Definitely worth a visit.

We thought this would be a quick in and out . . . it turned out to be a lot more to see than we thought. The two docents did a great job of bringing that period in our history to life. We all sang gospels and then she would interpret what the song was really about. She showed us quilts that were really markers and road maps.This is a very interesting museum about some of our darker days in history. It is well done and well worth the time to see it.

Passionate guides telling about a great family doing the right thing -including their motives- in a dark period of history. Illustrating the hardness of slaves lifes by comprehensive stories and pictures, advertisements of the past.Must see for all families with kids growing up!

Excellent. Wonderful info. Too bad Dave D. had to make his review about himself like many white people instead of having an open mind and actually learning something. I'm irritated by comments that stating that this happened 200 years ago but lose sight of the fact that the legacy continues and is present in everyday culture. Some education is wasted on some people.

This small house was a part of history and I am thankful for the history lesson. We had a very knowledgeable, passionate tour guide who made the tour experience wonderful. I am glad we decided to visit.

We highly recommend this information-packed and emotional tour. The ladies who staffed the museum and our tour on Saturday, Nov 22, 2014 were lovely, intelligent, and welcoming. The history they shared with our tour group was incredbly moving and dense with details. We highly recommend this experience to anyone visiting Memphis! Thank you very much!

This tour is a great precursor to the Civil Rights Museum and mind blowing in so many ways. Be prepared for an emotional, historical journey back in time to the days of unspeakable tragedy and persecution. The tour is informative and teaches so much about the slave trade, the brutal treatment and persecution of slaves and also of their cleverness and perseverance. This tour highlights the Burkle family and their efforts to help escaped slaves move through the underground railroad. This was a story of sacrifice and bravery on the part of the Burkle family and the people who put their faith and trust in them. We had two different tour guides and both ladies were fabulous in their presentations. To actually see the secret cellar and stand in the place of slaves was moving, and literally brought tears to my eyes. I am a history buff but learned so many things I did not know and enjoyed learning some of the "secret meanings" in the old spiritual songs famous during that period of history. It is a must experience museum as it presents slavery from its very beginning, through emancipation and into the civil rights era... Although tears were shed and I left with a sickness in the pit of my stomach it is a part of history that must be told.... As a side note, It is located in an out of the way area - but that was part of the reason the Burkles bought the property, so, don't be put off by anything, including the restrooms if you must use them( they are far from the best, honestly they really could use some attention) -but remember you are stepping back in time.... Truly a "must visit" museum that deserves more credit than it seems to get......

We were the only ones there on a Monday morning so we had our own tour guide. She was excellent plus she had an excellent voice-she sang "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" during the tour. I learned things about slavery that I did not know. Some facts brought tears to my eyes. Highly recommend. You will not forget this visit.