FROGMORE, La. &045; The buildings here aren’t all from the old Frogmore plantation, but they’re all old.

The oldest ones are from the late 1700s and they aren’t inhabited any more, but they provide a glimpse into a way of life that prevailed in the area for most of 200 years &045; the culture of cotton, from the days of slavery through to the sharecropping that existed into the middle part of the 20th century.

&uot;We give them a background from the slave trade all the way to sharecropping in the 1960s. The tourists enjoy seeing how things were, but they especially like seeing the cause and effect &045; why things are the way they are,&uot; Lynette Tanner said.

Lynette and husband Buddy own Frogmore, which was a working cotton and sugar cane plantation starting in the early 1800s. Cotton is still grown and processed on the land. The Tanners grow a couple thousand acres of cotton on the land, but most of their business comes from ginning cotton for other growers in the area.

The most exciting new thing at Frogmore is the music tour, &uot;Music, Mistresses and Marriage,&uot; generally held every Tuesday morning for tourists from the steamboats that come through Natchez.

Groups of at least 25 can make an appointment for the tour at other times, part a history of the plantation culture and part musical performance.

&uot;We focus on the mistress of the plantation and her interaction with the slaves,&uot; Tanner said.

Soloists Willie Minor and Edrena Lyons lead visitors through the grounds and perform a number of gospel songs for them.

&uot;We give sort of a history of Frogmore and African Americans from 1860s to present,&uot; Minor said. &uot;Then, after the narrations, there’s the wedding and they jump the broom. Then we take them through the cabins and give a history of songs we sing.&uot;

But this tour isn’t just a show, it’s interactive. Visitors are encouraged to sing along &045; several of the songs are call and response &045; and dance. Minor judges the dance competition for the tour, the prize for which is a moon pie, meant to recall the cake walks of the time.

&uot;We tell them about the songs, many of which were code songs that talked about going to freedom or getting ready to run away,&uot; Minor said. &uot;Most of them really get involved. In my cabin, I tell them, ‘You have one chance to be the best group today.’ But usually they really jump on it. They dance for a moon pie, and usually they really get involved.&uot;

Sheila Atkins and Donald Whitley, two of the plantation tour guides, play the roles of bride and groom in the ceremony, including jumping the broom, a traditional African-American ceremony for couples getting married.

Whitley’s ancestors were born and worked on the plantation.

Restoring the plantation and putting on tours has become a sizable job for Lynette, who also helps over at the modern cotton gin, but she doesn’t mind.

&uot;It’s been an enjoyable project,&uot; Tanner said. &uot;I like this, and Buddy likes this, too.&uot;