Telling our whole history and protecting the sites that tell that history matters. That was the underlying message of the talk given by the Slave Dwelling Project’s Founder Joseph McGill Jr. on Sunday, September 21. A former park ranger at Fort Sumter, Joe spoke to a fully engaged audience including members of the DAR and other nonprofits. Joe shared his inspiration for launching his journey in 2010. His work with the National Trust for Historic Preservation led him to help with the restoration of four dilapidated slave cabins at Magnolia Plantation in South Carolina. Once inhabited by people whose labor was stolen from them, the cabins had many more stories to tell and Joe realized that by sleeping in them he might draw attention to their precarious existence and advocate for saving and preserving similar structures throughout the South.
Working with State Historic Preservation Officers he started with a list of 21 plantations on the National Register. Fifteen years later, he has slept in more than 150 dwellings in 25 states, his impact has extended to the Northern states, he has co-written a book and created an annual history conference that encourages researchers to keep delving into the untold stories of the enslaved and continues to advocate against racism and the erasure of Black history. After Joe’s talk, we showed an amazing new documentary short created by our inaugural Purdy-Bell Fellow Chase Gray. The original film illustrates ongoing efforts to research, record and preserve Westchester County’s rich African American history. Joe then stayed to sign copies of “Sleeping with the Ancestors” and attendees enjoyed the uninterrupted view from the veranda looking out on history and imagining the other untold stories.
Photos by Kim Crichlow. More to come.
