Sleeping with the Ancestors: Author Talk with Joseph McGill, Jr. and Herb Frazier
In this Preservation Book Club webinar, we were joined by Joseph McGill Jr., founder of the Slave Dwelling Project, and his co-author Herb Frazier. They discussed their book Sleeping with the Ancestors: How I Followed the Footprints of Slavery. This book is the personal account of one man's groundbreaking project to sleep overnight in the countless oft-overlooked former slave dwellings that still stand across the country, the fascinating history behind those sites, and how he has used the experiences to shed light on larger issues of race in America.
Photos showing The Slave Dwelling project website, Instagram page, and the book Sleeping with the Ancestors.
The Slave Dwelling Project envisions a future in which the hearts and minds of Americans acknowledge a more truthful and inclusive narrative of the history of the nation that honors the contributions of all our people, is embedded and preserved in the buildings and artifacts of people of African heritage, and inspires all Americans to acknowledge their Ancestors.
As of the beginning of 2018, Joseph McGill has conducted over 250 overnights in approximately 100 different sites across 19 states and the District of Columbia.
The Slave Dwelling Project has held an annual conference every year since 2013. In 2016, the Project expanded to offer a program of living history called “Inalienable Rights: Living History Through the Eyes of the Enslaved.” You can follow the project by visiting their website, following on Instagram, and by reading the book! Click here to get your copy.
Following Joseph and Herb’s presentation they were joined in conversation by Donnamarie Barnes, the Director of History & Heritage at Sylvester Manor Educational Farm.
Joseph McGill, Jr. is the founder of the Slave Dwelling Project and a history consultant for Magnolia Plantation in Charleston, SC. By arranging for people to sleep in extant slave dwellings, the Slave Dwelling Project has brought much needed attention to these often-neglected structures that are vitally important to the American built environment.
Prior to his current position, Mr. McGill has been a field officer for the National Trust for Historic Preservation; Executive Director of the African American Museum in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Director of History and Culture at Penn Center, St. Helena Island, South Carolina; and a Park Ranger at Fort Sumter National Monument in Charleston. He is also the founder of Company “I” 54th Massachusetts Reenactment Regiment in Charleston, South Carolina.
Herb Frazier is a Charleston, South Carolina-based writer. He is currently the Special Projects Editor for the Charleston City Paper, and was formerly the marketing director at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens following a long career in daily journalism.
Frazier is the author of Behind God’s Back: Gullah Memories and co-author of We Are Charleston: Tragedy and Triumph at Mother Emanuel with Marjory Wentworth and Dr. Bernard Powers Jr. Frazier is also the co-editor of Ukweli: Searching for Healing Truth, South Carolina Writers and Poets Examine American Racism.
He has been named a “Journalist of the Year” by the South Carolina Press Association and was a former Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan. He formerly represented South Carolina on the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission, created by the U.S. Congress in 2006.
Donnamarie Barnes began working at Sylvester Manor Educational Farm in 2014 as a volunteer and history docent. In 2016, she joined the staff full time as Curator & Archivist. Her ongoing work as the Director of History & Heritage includes researching the lives and identities of the Enslaved, Free People of Color, and Indigenous People of Sylvester Manor and the East of Long Island, interpreting their stories into the Manor’s narrative and serving as the liaison between partner organization and institutions of higher learning. In addition, Donnamarie is involved in conserving and interpreting the various collections at Sylvester Manor.
Donnamarie serves on the steering committee of The Northern Slavery Collective, the board of trustees of the Greater Hudson Heritage Network, and is the Co-Director of the Plain Sight Project on the East End of Long Island.
Click here to view a PDF of the webinar slides.
Thank you to our sponsor, the Peggy N. & Roger G. Gerry Charitable Trust.