LCA Main Blog
Keep up with what’s happening at Lowcountry Africana, learn about upcoming events, and sharpen your research skills with tips and tricks for researching South Carolina ancestors. Welcome!
The Slave Dwelling Project: The One That Got Away
Laurelwood Slave Cabin, Soon to be Restored In my attempt to bring much needed attention to the necessity to restore and interpret extant former slave dwellings throughout the United States, over the past 2 ½ years I have spent the night in 36 such places in 11...
Join Friends of McLeod for a Free Lecture by Joseph McGill of the Slave Dwelling Project
What: Free Lectue by Joseph McGill, Creator of the Slave Dwelling Project When: Tuesday, September 18 Where: 217 Fort Johnson Road, Charleston, SC Admission: Free ---August 26, 2012 The Friends of McLeod, Inc. invite the public to attend a free presentation by Joseph...
African American Civil War Lecture Series
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 23, 2012 For additional information contact: Joseph McGill 843-408-7727 jmcgill@savingplaces.org African American Civil War Lecture Series The fourth installment of the SC African American Heritage Commission's (SCAAHC) African American...
Join Lowcountry Africana at Magnolia Plantation Feb 9, 2013 for a Seminar on Tracing Reconstruction-Era Ancestors
Learn About the Records That Will Help You Trace African American Ancestors Back Beyond 1870 ~And~ Receive Personal Genealogy Advice from a Panel of Experienced Lowcountry Researchers! Please join us at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens on Saturday, February 9 for the...
Blog Talk Radio: Great Lineup for July on "Research at the National Archives and Beyond" With Bernice Bennett
Did you know that you can listen to free, live genealogy talk shows online on BlogTalk Radio? BlogTalkRadio is the largest and fastest growing online talk radio network, where you can listen to thousands of shows on such topics as history, education, social networking...
Slave Dwelling Project Visits Heyward Washington House
I can only say that there is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do to see a plan adopted for the abolition of slavery. No stranger to tourists, arguably the Heyward Washington House is the most historically significant stay to date for the Slave...
New SC Resolution Will Recognize Importance of Freedmen’s Community Mitchelville
A resolution introduced by South Carolina Representative Andy Patrick calls for South Carolina to officially recognize the importance of Mitchelville, a Freedmen's community built in 1862 on the Drayton family's Fish Haul Plantation in Hilton Head, South Carolina. As...
Back of the Big House – Slave Dwelling Project a Stop on Holly Springs, MS Pilgrimage Tour Tour
I met Jenifer Eggleston ten years ago when I started working for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. While she worked in the Washington, DC office, she came to Charleston, SC to fulfill a requirement of her duties. Right after Hurricane Katrina Jenifer was...
Healing Through Heritage
By Robin Foster I just made it home from my first research trip as Co-Director of Lowcountry Africana. I almost willingly succumbed to sleep, but after retiring, my mind kept wandering through the experiences over this past week. I left home with the purpose of...
Slave Dwelling Project Visits Seibels House and Lexington Museum
There have been times in this journey when it was wise to schedule slave dwelling stays back to back. My trips to Alabama, Missouri, and...
Descendants of Slaveholders, Descendants of Slaves Share Overnight Stay at Bush-Holley House, Greenwich, CT
Bush-Holley House “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners...
The Door Is Open. Who Are You? Slave Dwelling Project Visits Friendfield Plantation
“The door is open! The door is open! Who are you? Who are you?" According to “Old Reliable” Terry James, those are the words I uttered as I slept in a slave dwelling at Friendfield Plantation on the night of March 23, 2012. While my wife will easily explain that I...
Drayton Research Update: Efforts to Emancipate Abigail, Mahala, Rebecca and Abba
In 1821, Rebecca Perry Drayton, widow of John Drayton of Drayton Hall, petitioned the House of Representatives, seeking permission to free three family slaves named Abigail, Mahala and Rebecca. Abigail was described as "an old family nurse ... now between eighty and...
Slave Dwelling Project 2012 Schedule
Slave Dwelling Project Founder Joseph McGill has set the itinerary of overnight cabin stays for 2012. In addition to overnight stays in slave cabins in South Carolina, the Slave Dwelling Project will also visit Georgia, Connecticut, Mississippi, North Carolina and...
Slave Dwelling Project’s First 2012 Stay: Price House, Spartanburg, SC
Joseph McGill Outside Price House Slave Dwelling Nannie Jeffries, museum administrator of the Spartanburg County Historical Association, must be commended for being a visionary. It was late 2010 when she first proposed that I spend a night in the slave cabin at the...