Tag: Slave Dwelling Project

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Laurelwood Plantation ~ The One That (Almost) Got Away

By Joseph McGill, Slave Dwelling Project

I know for sure that I have spent nights in slave dwellings in twelve states. In the states of South Carolina and Mississippi, I have had some repeat stays. When placing a number on slave dwellings that I have spent the night, I state thirty nine however that might be a misnomer. I will let you be the judge.

There was one stay that eluded me. On April 15, 2011, I was faced with a decision that tested my resolve to remain true to the Slave Dwelling Project. It was on that day that I had my first opportunity to spend the night in the slave dwelling at Laurelwood Plantation in Eastover, SC. Its dilapidated condition and a desire for self preservation factored into my decision not to sleep in the cabin however, I did sleep on the porch of the “big house” which was also in need of restoration. Saturday, April 20, 2013, I would return to Laurelwood Plantation to spend the night in the restored slave cabin that I refused to sleep in two years prior.

The new property owners Jeremy and Jackie Thomas kept good a promise of restoring the cabin. This was not an easy feat because the two of them currently reside in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. Their ultimate intent was to be living in the restored “big house” by now but the necessity to hire a new contractor and an unexpected medical issue delayed its restoration however the work continues with the ambitious plan of having it completed by August.

When I arrived at 3:00 pm the site was bustling with activity. The Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation was conducting an open house for the property. They played a major role in ensuring the property would be restored by purchasing and placing easements on it and holding on to it until they found a preservation minded buyer.

I bypassed all of the activities going on at the “big house” and proceeded directly to the restored slave cabin which is located a considerable distance away. This proved to be a wise choice because I got to spend some quality time alone with the place. I took many pictures and spent some time inside inspecting the work that was done to the building. Still missing a few windows, I was thrilled that the contractor used all of the material that was salvageable. My fear that the cabin would be constructed of all new material was put at ease because I knew the challenge that the contractor was faced with based on my knowledge of the dilapidated condition of the cabin when I saw and refused to sleep in it two years prior.

Satisfied with what I saw at the newly restored slave cabin, I then took a walk to the big house to participate in the happenings there. I met Grant McDonald, the gentleman responsible for the cabin’s restoration work. I could tell that my verbal approval of his work was a relief to him. The owner of the property, Jeremy, made the trip from England for the event, he introduced me to his mom, who made the trip with him and was seeing the property for the first time. Jeremy had plans to spend the night in the cabin.

Prinny Anderson from the group Coming to the Table and a descendant of President Thomas Jefferson came from Durham, NC as promised to spend her second night in a slave dwelling, her first overnight was Bacon’s Castle in Surry, VA.

Two Lower Richland High School seniors Harold Taylor a future Clemson University student with aspirations of being a veterinarian and Justin Castor a future United States Marine along with their history teacher Mr. Timothy Shipley showed up for the stay. Mr. Shipley met me at a teacher’s workshop earlier this year at the College of Charleston. The subject of the workshop was teaching the Civil War 150 years later. Terry “Old Reliable” James would show up after the visitors left.

I was summoned over to a group that was talking about the fate of a slave dwelling at nearby Kennsington Plantation. I was told of how the owner, International Paper, was doing everything necessary to move and restore the dwelling when defeat was snatched from the jaws of victory because an individual at a state agency did not move quickly enough to perform a necessary act that would have moved the process along. Now with a new plant manager in place and an expired grant, the momentum has been lost. Not surprisingly, I am now on an unofficial team to regain that momentum and move the project forward. This exchange was a reminder to me of how bureaucracy is often the worst enemy of restoring and interpreting extant slave dwellings.

It was a great pleasure to see how the visiting public was splitting their time between the mansion and the slave cabin. I interacted with as many of them as time would allow. Some were there at the gathering two years ago when I made the decision not to sleep in the cabin so they appreciated more the progress made thus far to the cabin and the mansion.

What I have found out since I started the Slave Dwelling Project in May 2010 is that a lot of the former slave dwellings are still on the American landscape because they were lived in well beyond emancipation. This cabin was lived in until the 1940s. On this day, I met Mrs. Nancy Floyd, the last person to live in the cabin and to my surprise, she was not African American. Unfortunately, we did not have time to hang out because I wanted to know more about her experience living in the cabin.

So far, all of the slave dwellings I’ve stayed in this year have come with amenities, more specifically, electricity and a nearby restroom. This would not be the case at the cabin at Laurelwood. Knowing of these challenges, I told all of the people staying to plan accordingly. Nevertheless, these challenges would still have to be overcome.

One other challenge to overcome was the unseasonably cold weather which was predicted to drop to 47 degrees. Prinny and I took to the surrounding woods to gather as much firewood as we could. With the help of Grant the contractor we would supplement our wood supply with some unusable wood from the debris pile that came from the interior of the mansion. For Jeremy, this would be the first opportunity to test the fireplace in the slave cabin and his skills at building a fire. He finally got the fire going but we had to let it burn out because we would all have to leave the site to find a place to eat dinner. We ate dinner at Mr. Bunky’s Restaurant and Market on Highway 378. While there, to exclude taking a shower, all of us took advantage of all of the opportunities that a modern bathroom would present.

When we got back to the cabin, Jeremy got the fire going again this time with much more ease although he expressed his reluctance to burn the historic wood that came from inside the mansion. That reluctance only made me think about the labor force that was necessary to prepare that wood to be used for construction.

In true Coming to the Table fashion, Prinny Anderson led us in a session to bless the space. We all took the opportunity to give thanks and express our reason for being there. Prinny talked about her slave owning ancestors; Terry talked about sleeping in shackles; Jeremy talked about his opportunity to restore the cabin; Tim talked about the teaching opportunities of the space; and the two students Justin and Harold talked about the learning opportunities of the space.

We continued the conversation with Jeremy stressing that the cabin should continue to be used for educational purposes in the future and for that I have unlimited access. Tim and I vowed to work together to coordinate the next date for students to join us in a sleepover in the cabin. Jeremy engaged me in a conversation about how the cabin should be furnished. I told him that since the cabin was in use far beyond emancipation, furnishings that fit that period would be appropriate. I added that it would be unlikely that there would be furniture in the cabin during the time of slavery. I further added that some stewards of like properties tend to over adorn them by placing items such as furniture and other fixtures that no average slave owner would have issued or allow their slaves to have. Furthermore, that space was used mostly for sleeping.

It was then time for all of us to claim our spot to spread our sleeping bags on the floor where we all drifted off to sleep. The last of us to get up the next morning was Justin, the future Marine. We all took the time to remind him that his sleeping habits will have to change when he enters boot camp. After a session of intense picture taking, we all went our separate ways.

"I am still unsure if I should label this as an initial or repeat stay. What I am sure of is that this cabin at Laurelwood Plantation is the best example of why the Slave Dwelling Project should continue to exist. The mansion and the cabin were almost victims of demolition by neglect. The Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation stepped in and saved both. The new owners Jeremy and Jackie Thomas also deserve praise because of their willingness to breathe life back into these properties and go above and beyond to ensure that the cabin will be used for educational purposes."

Joseph McGillSlave Dwelling Project

I am looking forward to working with all entities necessary to ensure that this cabin will reach its fullest potential in inspiring others to come up to the standards that The Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation and owners Jeremy and Jackie have set. The ancestors would be proud!

Overnight at the Laurelwood Slave Dwelling

By Prinny Anderson

"This overnight stay highlighted for me in a personal and physical way what the lives of enslaved people might have been like. It made me much more thoughtful about the harsh contrast between the lives of free, privileged, European American slave owners, like my own ancestors, and the lives of the enslaved and intentionally deprived African American people. It gave the shame of benefitting from slavery a physical form, a cold night on the floor. It also gave me a way of contributing to the re-warming and restoration of “right relationship” among the descendants of the enslaved and the slaveowners, a way of taking tiny steps towards making amends and seeking reconciliation."

Prinny AndersonComing to the Table

My overnight stay at Laurelwood was my second sleepover in a slave dwelling, and as expected, it was different from the first one. Two themes from the stay continue to echo in my mind. Bringing seven people together to sit around a fire in the hearth, talk and tell stories, and sleep in the cabin was like a housewarming event. And much of what stood out to me about the visit were the ordinary aspects of life – how it probably was 150 years ago compared to how it is now, how it was for enslaved people compared to how it is for a privileged, comfortably off, middle class professional.

The notion of “house warming” resonates in several ways. For one thing, that April evening was unseasonably chilly, and fortunately, a couple of people in our group knew how to build a fire and then looked after it diligently. That fire warmed the house enough to make our evening delightful and our overnight stay tolerable. Since our overnight stay was the first time in several decades since anyone had slept in the building, and since the cabin had been restored, with parts of the foundation, the floor, the walls and the roof having all been reconstructed, we were “re-warming” the space. We were bringing life back into the building. What’s even more important to the seven who spent the night is that we were the first people since Emancipation, as best we know, who came to sleep in the cabin with a focus on the enslaved people who had lived there. We were there to “re-warm” the memory, honor and respect those people should have.

Finally, for me, there were echoes of my experience at the community gathering held at Monticello. In 2007, descendants of all the people, enslaved and free, workers and owners, African and European, gathered at Monticello to become acquainted with one another, to talk about our shared heritage, and to look for ways to reconnect. As we came up to the mansion, the President of the foundation that cares for the building called out, “Welcome home, welcome back home.” At Laurelwood, we were welcomed home by the current owner of the property. We the living and the memory of those gone on were all welcomed home.

The other aspect of my experience was paying attention to the very ordinary details of life. The cabin has no furniture now; it probably had very little furniture when it was a slave dwelling. We pulled planks together to create seating, and we had all brought bedding for the night, so we were reasonably comfortable. But we reflected on what the enslaved people would have had – probably no chairs or tables; probably a thin, straw-filled pallet to lie on at night; and, if the overseer was doing his duty, a blanket, but maybe only one blanket. That chilly April night would not have been very comfortable. January would have been much worse. And back in the day, the owners and overseers mostly likely didn’t give a second thought to allowing people to live in such conditions.

There was no running water at the cabin; we brought our own water, in jugs and bottles. Perhaps there was a well or a pump somewhere on the property in earlier times, but fetching it and storing it would have been a constant chore performed by enslaved people, first for the convenience of their owners and then for their own use. Carrying water is time-consuming and exhausting, to the extent that still there are places in the world where people do not wash and do not stay sufficiently hydrated simply because of the effort involved. Was that the case for the Laurelwood enslaved community?

Of course, with no running water, there were no toilets. There might have been a latrine. Or the enslaved inhabitants of the cabin may have had the same experience we did, of finding a sheltered spot in the woods. That’s manageable for camping. Imagine it as a daily way of life. Imagine it as daily life for people whose duties included emptying the chamberpots of European Americans who did not have to run out to the latrine or find a quiet spot in the woods.

This overnight stay highlighted for me in a personal and physical way what the lives of enslaved people might have been like. It made me much more thoughtful about the harsh contrast between the lives of free, privileged, European American slave owners, like my own ancestors, and the lives of the enslaved and intentionally deprived African American people. It gave the shame of benefitting from slavery a physical form, a cold night on the floor. It also gave me a way of contributing to the re-warming and restoration of “right relationship” among the descendants of the enslaved and the slaveowners, a way of taking tiny steps towards making amends and seeking reconciliation.

Laurelwood

by Tim Shipley

"As I teach students history, I often encourage them to look into their own past and heritage. One cannot understand where they are going until they understand where they have been. I look to future experiences at Laurelwood with my students. This will be a great way to open their eyes to the past in knowing their heritage."

Teacher Tim ShipleyLower Richland High School

The idea of staying overnight in a slave cabin would never have crossed my mind until I met Joe and Jeremy. Over the past year, Jeremy has worked to connect our school with the slave cabin and offer the use of it to teach students. Well, after an overnight stay in the slave cabin it has been interesting since, as I talk to others about the experience and they say “you really stayed”. Normally, as a history teacher, I would look at this as another experience to use in the classroom however, having looked into my own family history the past few years made this experience different.

Sleeping overnight in the conditions I was not used to opening my eyes to what even life must have been like for my own ancestors much less African-Americans. It made me wonder how my ancestors might have been towards people of other races. I do know that there were sharecroppers in my past, but for them the conditions still were not to the level of ridicule and segregation of African –Americans during that time.

As I teach students history, I often encourage them to look into their own past and heritage. One cannot understand where they are going until they understand where they have been. I look to future experiences at Laurelwood with my students. This will be a great way to open their eyes to the past in knowing their heritage.

Slave Cabin Stay

by Harold Taylor, Student

"To compare the lifestyles of the white man and the black man on the plantation is to compare day and night. The master lived in a big, lavished, warm, cozy house, while the slave toiled all day only to return to a shanty shack with barely a fireplace to warm the hearth. The black man worked to carry the economy the white man thrived on. The white man took what the black man broke his back to give, maybe not freely, but in the same sense, the black man had to give."

Student Harold TaylorLower Richland High School

Slave cabins were the lodgings of individuals who were forced to work for nothing in the United States in the beginnings of the creation of the United States. The slaves were forced to do labor just about every day in the field for fear of abuse or attack. These men and women went day in and day out working, more often than not, for people who cared nothing of their well being as long as they were alive. At the end of the day these poor souls would be forced to return to cabins that were little more than large sheds.

While in the Laurelwood plantation’s slave cabin it was hard not to notice the size of the cabin itself. The cabin was no bigger than around twelve by ten feet. This cabin was devoid of anything more than a few shanty doors and drafty windows, with only a single fire place to heat the whole home. The slaves returning after a hard day’s labor in the field would do little more than come inside and go to sleep. In fact, according to several individuals who stayed at the cabin overnight, that is all the cabin was probably used for. This shows what kind of torment the slaves lived in. The cabin itself was quite cold without a fire, very drafty if any open area was not blocked, and covered with small cracks in the floor that made sleeping in a sleeping bag almost unbearable.

Many slave cabins had little to no furniture on the inside so slaves were forced to sleep on the cold hard floor. According to a one mister Joe, the cabin might have had a small table with just enough space to set a few items on to eat or what not. In this way the slaves obviously had to become very resourceful to stay warm during the colder winter months. As those who experienced the overnight stay will recall, the cabin was quite cold. The individuals who stayed will also recall that they stayed in the spring, as the weather was warming up. Slaves who lived in the cabin had to live there year round. During the summer, the slaves had to fear snakes crawling through the floor boards, and during the winter the slaves had to fight the cold just to stay warm. Both of these tasks were hard as cracks in between the floor boards made plenty of room for snakes to enter and the sole fireplace required constant attention to warm the room.

The slaves must have relied on each other immensely. During the summer, the slaves could open the windows for a cross breeze, but the draft could put out the cooking fire. The slaves who stayed in that cabin, must have found a way to keep the place cool, but cook at the same time. Surely it was difficult, but the winters must have been worse. The slaves relied upon whatever they were given or could find. Slaves would probably make blankets and huddle together to keep warm, but even the mornings were cold and they would be forced to go to work.

To compare the lifestyles of the white man and the black man on the plantation is to compare day and night. The master lived in a big, lavished, warm, cozy house, while the slave toiled all day only to return to a shanty shack with barely a fireplace to warm the hearth. The black man worked to carry the economy the white man thrived on. The white man took what the black man broke his back to give, maybe not freely, but in the same sense, the black man had to give.

Overall, from one night of staying in a slave cabin, it is easier to see the misdeed of early white Americans. While history favors the white man early on, it is deeper to feel the pain and suffering of the early black man. However, it is important to recall that without each of their contributions, the white man’s cruelty and black man’s sacrifice are part of the reason why Americans today can live together in harmony. Without the pain of slavery there wouldn’t have been the joy of today, when the white man and the black man can look upon each other as equals, as friends, as brothers.

My Experience at The Laurelwood Plantation

by Justin Castor, Student

"I can say that the experience has made me a better person. It’s taught me humility for those who lived daily in the conditions I experienced for only 12 hours. It’s shown me an importance in knowing and attempting to learn about your history. Most of all, it has proven that history is real."

Student Justin CastorLower Richland High School

I have never quite taken the time to contemplate the idea of slavery or the fact that, at one point or another, my ancestors went through it. As I visited the slave cabin at Laurelwood, I was faced with 2 conflicting views, and that is exactly how I wish to present my experience. On one hand, being a student in IB history lent to my interest and the analytical approach I took upon first arrival. On the other, being an African- American didn’t sink in until the night. I had to come to terms with the magnitude of the event. The stay caused me to question the system of slavery, the current state of the African Americans in America, and me. Hopefully by explaining these views, you can gain an insight not only on the physical conditions, but also my personal feelings involved with staying at Laurelwood.

From the historical perspective, slavery had and has always been an institution since biblical times. I had grown accustomed to looking at “the bigger picture”, and the bigger picture tells me that slavery in North America was much more civilized than in Latin America. That being said, it was hard for me to empathize with slavery, much like Americans who fail to understand soldiers. The cabin was about half the size of the average high school class room, and was split into 2 main rooms (the porch of the cabin was enclosed in at a later period, creating a 3rd room which we did not use). History tells us that the space allocated would have held a family of 10+, with minimal consideration for basic living conditions. This space actually would have worked fine, considering that the house would only be used to sleep in, as the slaves would have been working on the 2500 acres that the Laurelwood plantation would have covered.

Growing up, I neglected doing research into my ancestors and my own family line. I thought that it was simply “the cool thing to do” for African Americans and held no real substance. I had grown to refuse a connection to my slave ancestors, as I felt too many people would use these ancestors as a crutch to continue various negative social practices in the African American society. When I arrived at the cabin, it took a while for me to fully digest what I was feeling. I eventually understood that heritage was a very important thing. I understood that learning your history can be one of the most enlightening experiences you can ever hope to undergo. Being so close, you can literally imagine what may have happened in the past. Suddenly, what I read in textbooks became something I was able to see in my mind’s eye.

In some ways, the event is indescribable. Joe told us that “every stay is different” and I am sure that each stay will mean something different to each person. I can say that the experience has made me a better person. It’s taught me humility for those who lived daily in the conditions I experienced for only 12 hours. It’s shown me an importance in knowing and attempting to learn about your history. Most of all, it has proven that history is real. I think that students in history classes can sometimes forget that that what they read in books was once as real their own lives and experiences. Slaves slept on the very floor I slept on, braved the same cold, and did so with less than half of the accommodations I enjoyed. Knowing that, I can personally say that the stay in the slave cabin is something I will never forget.

Related Story and Video

Historic Slave Cabin Renovations Complete from WIST 10, Columbia, SC

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Slave Dwelling Project Revisits the Behind the Big House Tour, Holly Springs, MS

One way of testing the effectiveness of the Slave Dwelling Project is when I get invited back to a place where I have stayed already. An invitation to return is an indication to me that the project is working and I am not the only one who has come to the conclusion that preserving and interpreting former slave dwellings is the right thing to do. Accepting the invitation to go back to Holly Springs, Mississippi to participate in the Behind the Big House Tour was a no-brainer. The tour is in its second year of existence and gives people participating in the Holy Springs Pilgrimage the opportunity to hear the rest of the story by touring the slave dwellings behind the “big house".

Last year when I participated in the Behind the Big House Tour, I took a side trip to Oxford, Mississippi. While there I visited Rowan Oak which was owned by author William Faulkner until his death. The Greek revival house was built in 1840 by Colonel Robert Sheegog a planter from Tennessee. I left there with a verbal agreement that when I returned this year, I would spend a night in one of the out buildings. In fact, when my host booked my plane ticket for the trip they added two extra days on the front end to compensate for the stay at Rowan Oak. Unfortunately, the stay did not occur because of a bureaucratic nightmare. I did visit the site and had a productive conversation with the curator who gave me and my host access to the outbuildings. With patience, I am hopeful that the stay will occur in the near future however while there I did see a large snake which curbed my enthusiasm for that stay to occur immediately.

Along the way, the project has gained supporters who have helped it in many ways, those who publish my blogs; those who spend nights in slave dwellings with me; those who help find those obscure slave dwellings; those stewards of dwellings who grant me permission to spend a night; to those who just offer an encouraging word along the way. In the year 2010 when the project was in its infancy, my first slave dwelling lecture was given on the campus of the University of South Carolina. It was arranged by Jody Skipper, PhD, who was a doctoral student at that time. After a series of emails Dr. Skipper met me in Anderson, SC the site of one of the early stays for the project. After receiving her doctoral degree, she accepted a teaching position at the University of Mississippi. Fate would have it that we would meet again, as a result of this Mississippi trip, she made arrangements for me to address two of her classes. I was not surprised to learn that she along with her graduate students, would serve as volunteers for the Behind the Big House Tour.

Year two would see many positive changes for the Behind the Big House Tour. One such change was adding school children, so on Thursday morning, April 11 local school groups were scheduled to visit the Hugh Craft House and slave dwelling. This was also an improvement because last year only the slave dwelling at this house was available for public viewing. Unfortunate for me, recalling my knowledge of being a park ranger at Fort Sumter, I had a preconceived notion that the high school students would misbehave, but proper preparation by their teachers; an orientation in the “big house” by Alex Mercedes and the home owner; the power of the place; and my Civil War uniform were all factors in the kids giving me their undivided attention. I only regret that I had to cut short the time given to the last group because of another scheduled obligation. Regrettable because one young lady in the last group engaged in a line of questioning about the institution of slavery that made her get so emotional to the point of shedding tears; honorable because the rest of the group respected her outward moment of mourning. This was a true testament of the power of place.

The official opening ceremony for the project occurred at the Smiling Phoenix a newly restored historic building on the town square of Holly Springs. The spacious building is now Holly Springs’ only coffee shop and is the talk of the town. I was thoroughly impressed by the demographics of the crowd that showed up for the event. My observation would be 60 % African American and 40 % Caucasian. This impressed me because I recalled last year for the two days that the two slave dwellings were open to the public only a sprinkling of African Americans came for the tour. I also recalled that as I queried those few African Americans the overwhelming message was that before the Behind the Big House Tour, the Holly Spring Pilgrimage had nothing to offer them. My only hope was that the strong presence of African Americans at this opening event would translate in to more African Americans touring the slave dwellings.

Friday morning would find me interpreting the slave dwelling at Burton Place. It was not necessary for me to spend the night in the space because I had done so the year before. One African American female volunteer showed up well before the scheduled school group of third graders. As all third graders are, they were full of pertinent questions. When we went inside the space, their line of questions continued, I continued to answer in a manner which third graders could understand. For the second time in two days the power of the place brought tears to one of the participant’s eyes, but it was the volunteer who experienced this emotion not any of the third graders.

The day continued with a program at Christ Church. Alex Mercedes (whom I had met the day before and had the pleasure of co-presenting with to the school students) played three songs on the piano which included Ashokan Farewell by Jay Ungar, one of my favorite songs. I along with doctoral candidate Justin Rogers presented on religion and slavery. I fore-warned my host that my knowledge on this subject was perfunctory at most and most of the time should be yielded to the young scholar Justin Rogers. This proved to be a good decision because Justin was quite thorough in is research and the explanation of same. I could only present my knowledge of using religion to justify slavery; extant Praise Houses; antebellum church balconies and galleries; slave burial grounds and practices; and the history of the song “Amazing Grace”.

I was then scheduled to present at the McCarroll Place Quarters, one of the new stops on the Behind the Big House Tour. Last year I had a brief stop at the site and was glad to know that the current owners agreed to make it a part of the tour. The main house on the property is uninhabited and has been for years. Volunteers managed to get the quarters in a condition that could be toured by the public. I must admit that I am getting a little soft because while the opportunity to spend the night there was presented, I passed. Misinformation managed to minimize the number of people that came to the site. Although interpretive information was provided, I had not familiarized myself with it enough to feel comfortable disseminating it to a visiting public. Fortunately, the few people who were there were given the history of the site by my host Chelius Carter.

I vividly remember that one of the slaves that lived in the dwelling was a brick maker who was promised his freedom after he trained another brick maker. While still on the site, I met Rkhty Jones. Our conversation revealed that African Americans made the bricks that were used to build the antebellum buildings in Holly Springs. I revealed to her that this past February, I gave a lecture in Charleston titled Who Built Charleston: Factoring Slave Labor into Antebellum Architecture. We both agreed that the concept of slaves making bricks can be applied to all historic cities where slavery occurred.

The night ended with dinner and a movie on the green. I joined my hosts for a bar-b-que dinner and the outside viewing of the movie “Fried Green Tomatoes.” As an avid channel surfer, that was the first time that I had seen the movie in its entirety. The KKK scenes were a lot more poignant in this setting and bar-b-que may not have been the best choice to serve as the main course for dinner.

Magnolias would be my thirty ninth former slave dwelling in which I would spend the night. The main house best known for the movie Cookie’s Fortune which was filmed there, was recently acquired by the young couple Frank and Genevieve Busby. Last year I toured the house and saw the potential for the stay. The owners worked frantically to prepare the entire house for the Pilgrimage in the weeks prior to the stay. Extensive renovations by a series of owners had attached the once separated kitchen and slave dwelling to the main house therefore, the average person would not readily identify the space as one that once housed slaves. This attachment also meant that the space would be complete with a bed, electricity and an indoor full bathroom. This attachment also made interpreting the space that much more interesting for it gave me the opportunity to explain to the visitors how some spaces that once housed slaves are sometimes hidden in plain view in attempts by home owners to add square footage to their houses or adaptively reuse the space.

That evening, I was assigned to the Hugh Craft House. As I was familiar with the narrative, that information flowed much more easily. It was there that, in making a point that the labor was not free for slave owners, one visitor stated that “the slave owner was economically liable for the feeding, clothing, housing and health care of his slaves even the non productive ones like the young and elderly.” I stated that you can justify slavery economically but can you justify it morally? One other visitor added a statement supporting my point of view and did not let the initial statement carry the day.

Behind the Big House II was much bigger and better. It has the potential to be bigger still. Like the Slave Dwelling Project, the Behind the Big House Tour is still going through growing pains and still has to convince some people and entities we mean no harm to anyone and that this is the right thing to do. There are several well established historic house tours carried out in places where slavery once existed in this nation. I hereby challenge all of them to step out of their comfort zones and interpret those extant slave dwellings behind those architecturally significant buildings therefore telling the complete story of this nation’s history.

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Teaching Moments: Slave Dwelling Project Includes Local Youths in Stay at Hopsewee Plantation

The first stay for the Slave Dwelling Project in 2013 was a repeat stay at Hopsewee Plantation on Friday, March 1.

One constant in both stays would be an event planned around dinner. Raejean and staff again showcased their zeal, ability and love of cooking for on the menu was shrimp and grits; chicken gumbo; field peas; okra and tomatoes; macaroni and cheese; pineapple casserole; pimento cheese biscuits and bread pudding.

The room was full to capacity and included guests from as far away as Chicago, Illinois and Mystic Sea Port, Connecticut who came specifically because of the program that owners Frank and Raejean planned. During dinner, I had the opportunity to address the guests on the subject of the Slave Dwelling Project.

Given only ten minutes to present, I let the audience decide which of the twelve states of which I had spent a night in a former slave dwelling that I would talk about. Their choices were Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. Having the audience respond to where they were from as I went alphabetically through the list, only Louisiana, Missouri and North Carolina were excluded from the presentation, proving the geographic diversity of the audience.

The highlight of the evening was a presentation titled “Stories from the Big Book of Gullah”. Story tellers Zenobia Washington and Sophia Jackson presented original stories based on Gullah traditions. Artist Zenobia Washington was raised in the port city of Georgetown, SC and influenced by the Gullah culture.

Many know Zenobia through her art of doll making, Zenobia is the director of Frameworks, a non-profit organization working with the youth of Georgetown in story telling and theater arts. Sophia Jackson is a native of Georgetown, SC and a longtime lover and pursuer of the arts. Having graduated from the University of South Carolina with a degree in film making and African American studies, she has recently joined efforts with Frameworks as a vehicle for sharing her expertise and artistic views. Also joining the cast was Gloria Bar Ford. Interspersed with poetry, storytelling and singing, the presentation was excellent and shows great potential for future collaboration.

One other very important element of the stay was that owners Frank and Raejean agreed that Zenobia could arrange for some youth and their chaperones to spend the night in the slave cabin with me. Seven young men ages 14 – 16 associated with the group Sons of Allen were chosen. Throughout the thirty eight stays, I have had many people share the experience of sleeping in the slave dwellings with me. This one, I would anticipate the most because of the potential to influence youth, more specifically, young African American males. The opportunity to educate was fully embraced. Dropped off by their parents, all of the young men had arrived at or before the appointed time of 6:00 pm. I, arriving at 5:30 pm, had the opportunity to meet some of the parents of the young men. All of the young men seemed ready for what they had volunteered to do. Their actions through dinner and the presentations were more than respectable.

Upon entering the cabin to prepare my spot for sleeping, I was not surprised that all seven young men chose the same side of the cabin. I could not let them just drift off to sleep without first taking advantage of this teachable moment.

Although they attended the dinner presentation, I wanted to give them more details about what our ancestors endured for us to have the liberties that we enjoy today. I asked fellow Civil War reenactors Terry James who would be sleeping in a slave cabin for the 12th time and Ramona La Roche who would be staying for the first time to join me in communicating with the young men. Ramona queried the young men about their plans for the future.

I could not help but recall a situation that Terry James and I experienced when we slept in the other slave cabin on the property. Terry told them that when he closed the door on the cabin he looked up and noticed that a snake had shed its skin right above the door. He went on to say that we both had to convince ourselves that because the shed skin was dry, the event took placed weeks maybe months before we got there and the snake was long gone. My role in this teachable moment was minimized when Terry James led the discussion drawing on his experience of currently raising two teen age boys and his experience of sleeping in 11 cabins to date. When prompted by Ramona, I only had to chime in to keep the conversation in an historical context. This involved telling the group about the movement westward of this young nation and how slavery factored into that movement.

As if planned, our teachable moment was pleasantly interrupted by owners Frank and Raejean, Frank went to the side of the chaperones and Raejean came to the side where Ramona, Terry and I were with the seven young men. Hoping that the young men were taking notes for an upcoming essay that they had to write about the stay in a slave cabin, I queried Raejean as if the information that she was about to give me, I would be hearing for the first time. She stated that she tries to avoid giving guided tours of the house because it usually becomes a tour about them and not the property and its past inhabitants. She leaves the job of the house tours to the hired staff. As she explained the history of Hopsewee, I could not help but to latch on to what she said about its connection to the invention of the water and steamed powered rice mill. John Hume Lucas who owned the plantation from 1844 – 1853 was a successful rice grower and engineer and a relative of Jonathan Lucas, Jr. and Jonathan Lucas Sr. Both Lucas’ Jr. and Sr. were responsible for inventing, building and perfecting rice mills. I could not help but to interrupt her presentation to make connection to Eli Whitney and his invention of the cotton gin. Both inventions increased the need for more slaves.

When Raejean and Frank left we became more grateful that the fireplaces in the cabin worked. In anticipation of a cold night, Raejean and Frank lit a fire in both fireplaces and provided enough wood to last throughout the night. The fire was cozy but we learned quickly that the windows on the cabin had to be slightly open to let out some of the smoke that would accumulate inside. After our session with the young men, all of the adults gathered on the other side of the cabin and quickly started to talk about subjects that mattered to adults. I became more acquainted with the group Sons of Allen. These men were responsible for assembling the group of young men who were staying the night. Information taken directly from their website describes the group as follows: “In 1984, the African Methodist Episcopal Church created the Sons of Allen Men’s Fellowship to foster closer relationships between men of the church, to equip men of the church for meaningful service, to reach unchurched men, and to present positive role models for our youth. The Sons of Allen has grown into an important connectional movement over the past twenty-plus years and the Fellowship is becoming a true connectional ministry. The challenges and disturbing realities facing African American men call for a response from the church.”

As we all claimed our spots on the floor we realized the twelve of us sleeping in the cabin that night would be using up all of the available floor space. I am certain that if the artifacts that were in the cabin were removed, we could have squeezed in even more people and that was likely the way that it would have been during the time of slavery. Once again, in preparation for his night sleep, Terry James attached the slave shackles to his wrist. As I drifted off to sleep, the young men were still talking among themselves. As we slept through the night, one of the chaperones would occasionally get up and put another log on the fire. On one occasion I awoke to a blazing fire in the fireplace and the sound of an owl in the background.

Unlike the first stay, sleeping in the cabin farthest away from Highway 17 made a big difference because the noise of the vehicles going across the bridge that spans the North Santee River was less prominent. Waking up the next morning, we all took advantage of the opportunity to take group photographs before we all went our separate ways. One by one the mothers of the young men came to pick them up. All of the mothers expressed great appreciation for the experience that we gave their kids. Raejean came and offered those of us remaining breakfast, some accepted but I had an appointment to keep with my young daughter.

Somewhere along this journey, I was told that what I was doing was art, it was Holly Springs, Mississippi to be exact. Until this stay at Hopsewee, I did not buy into that thought process. Did the dinner audience come for the food, did they come for the great performance of Stories from the Big Book of Gullah, or did they come to hear about the Slave Dwelling Project?

I cannot answer that question but I do know that all three elements worked well together. I also know that those three things combined did not excite me as much as spending the night in a slave cabin with seven young African American males.

I just hope that the experience gave them an indication of what their ancestors endured so that they can enjoy the liberties that they have today. Owners Frank and Raejean and all others involved in organizing this stay should be proud and also know that you have now raised the bar for future stays in extant slave dwellings.

Although a repeat stay, many new and interesting twists were added that would add new standards to the project.

We Shall Over Come

By: Mr. Jordan Manigault

Property! The definition of property is someone’s possession. Do you know what it means for a person to be called someone’s property? When you are considered property you have no freedom, nor rights. If you don’t have either you have no say or control of your life. Slaves were considered possessions of their slave owners. During that time in history they were used as collateral. They could be sold and bought just like you buy items out of the store today. Therefore, as a result, their lives were affected by daily ridicule and unimaginable hardships. Slaves had no control over when they were going to be sold or traded. Families were torn apart in many ways. The husbands and sons watched their mothers, wives, and sister suffer abuse physically, sexually, and mentally and could do nothing about it. They were property of their slave owner. The lives of our ancestors as slaves was hard, but slavery still exist today.

In today’s society we enslave with modern day technology. Technology has taken over to the point where we are too dependent on it. We no longer know and understand what it is like to think for ourselves or to work with our hands because computer and technology does everything for us. Children no longer enjoy the outdoors. They don’t go outside to play because the majority of them have computers, video games or cell phones in which they spend all their time on these devices. We no longer share conversations with our family and friends or love ones. Again, we have been bought by the use of technology, every time a new device comes out we worry our parents to go out and purchase the newest device of today. We need to get back to some of our old habits.

In order to overcome being enslaved to technology we have to put those devices down and spend more time together as families; laughing and talking to one another, spending more time outdoors enjoying the gift GOD gave us to see, hear and smell his creation.

In order for this change to have a positive impact on today’s youth, everyone must get involved. Adults must realize that they should not only be concerned on the well being of their children, but ALL children as a whole. I believe that more outreach ministries could be established that will teach the youth self-respect and dignity. By instilling these values in the youth now the ending results will be remarkable.

Hopsewee

By Mr. Timothy Guiles

Hopsewee use to be a plantation with slaves. It was very cold and dark. There weren’t any beds to sleep on. If we were slaves, we would have to sleep on the floor but we had sleeping bags. It was fun because I had my friends there with me but if we were in slave times, it wouldn’t have been fun at all. The men that stayed with us told us the real story about slaves. Not the fake stuff we learn or learned about in history class. I was surprised at what they told me. I didn’t know that slave work up at 4:00 am to start their day of working. One of the men told us that when we are in class, think about what our ancestors went through in slavery and use that knowledge to improve our school and work manners.

We had a fireplace but that only kept us warm for so long. When I woke up in the middle of the night, it was super cold. Before we went to sleep in the slave house, we ate some food that they use to eat back in slave times. There was grits, mac and cheese, lemonade, tea, beans and more.

It’s not fair that we have more things than slaves had we still don’t appreciate what they did for us. We sit there; stand there with freedom because our ancestors did that for us. Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and Malcolm X helped Blacks earn freedom. If it weren’t for Abraham Lincoln, we would still be in those fields picking cotton and getting whipped for no reason.

I learned that if you don’t try, you won’t succeed. I also learned that you are going to have to do things that you don’t want to do in order to get where you want to go in life. It’s life as most say today. This world still isn’t equal enough. We still have murderers, racism, and rapist. We are going to have to learn how to get along with each other or this world is going to break apart.

Hopsewee was a very good experience for me to see how a slave would sleep at night. Well I enjoyed staying there. That will be a never forgetting moment.

Related Reading

Ramona La Roche, founder of Family TYES SC, has written about her experience of the overnight stay at Hopsewee. You can read her reflections here, on her blog Gullah Galz Ink.

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Slave Dwelling Project Announces 2013 Schedule

Thirty nine overnight stays in extant slave dwellings is proof that the Slave Dwelling Project is doing well. The year 2012 saw a lot of firsts for the project. For the second consecutive year, a northern state was included in the project when I stayed at the Bush Holly House in Greenwich, Connecticut. Mississippi was the tenth state added to the project when I participated in the Holly Springs Pilgrimage in Holly Springs, Mississippi.

The state of Georgia joined the project when I stayed in a slave cabin in Sautee Nacoochee. Virginia was the twelfth state added to the project when I stayed at Bacon’s Castle in Surry. Virginia also provided the opportunity for the first institution of higher learning to participate when I stayed at Sweet Briar College in Sweet Briar, Virginia. The first repeat visit was done at Boone Hall Plantation in Mt. Pleasant, SC.

My collaboration with the group Coming To The Table was established when I joined them in Richmond, Virginia for their national gathering. That relationship with Coming To The Table was further enhanced when members of the group joined me for overnight stays in the Bush Holly House in Greenwich, Connecticut; Bacon’s Castle in Surry, Virginia and Sweet Briar College in Sweet Briar, Virginia.

2013 will be just as exciting if not more. I will get the opportunity to apply to all of the 2013 stays all that I have learned from the first stay which occurred at Magnolia Plantation in Charleston, SC in May 2010, to the last stay that occurred at Boone Hall Plantation in Mt. Pleasant, SC in November of 2012. This knowledge will make for more robust programming associated with every stay and assist the public in recognizing extant former slave dwellings that may be hidden in plain view such as spaces currently used as guest houses, pool houses, garages, storage spaces, etc. More importantly, this knowledge will help the public in recognizing those extant slave dwelling that are in dire need of stabilization and restoration.

Hopsewee Plantation: Friday, March 1

The first scheduled stay, Hopsewee Plantation located on the North Santee River in Georgetown County, SC will be a repeat stay. In addition to the public programs that will be provided, local school kids will compete via essays to decide those who will spend the night in the two slave cabins located at the site. Additionally, this stay will be accompanied by a dinner and performances by storytellers Zenobia Washington and Sophia Jackson both of whom are natives of Georgetown, SC.

Laurelwood Plantation, Eastover, SC: March 8-9

Of all the stays scheduled for 2013, the one that I anticipate the most is Laurelwood Plantation in Eastover, SC because it is a true testament of why the project exists. I was originally scheduled to stay there on April 15, 2011 but its dilapidated condition dictated that I pass on that opportunity. The new owners Jackie and Jeremy Thomas vowed that the cabin would be restored along with the mansion. The contractor rushed frantically to get the cabin in a state that was inhabitable for a stay that was to occur on November 3, 2012. Unforeseen circumstances would not let that stay occur on that day. The happy ending is that the cabin has been restored and the owners have granted me unlimited access for educational purposes.

Holly Springs, MS: Friday, April 12 – Sunday, April 14

The Holly Springs, Mississippi Pilgrimage will be a repeat. In a program titled The Behind the Big House Tour, visitors will have the opportunity for the second consecutive year to tour the mansions and the slave dwellings. This is a concept that I have been trying to get other well established historic house tours to adopt but they all seem to be content with only telling part of the story. The 2013 stay will also include a stay at Rowan Oaks, the former home of William Faulkner.

Salisbury, NC: Friday, June 14 – Saturday, June 15

The Salisbury, North Carolina stay will be my first stay there but my second stay in the state of North Carolina. It will be special because it will coincide with Juneteenth. When the emancipation proclamation was issued on January 1, 1863, it meant nothing if there were no Federal troops in the area to enforce the document. Federal troops did not reach Galveston, TX until June 19, 1865. Commemorating this historic day of freedom has become a national event.

Assault on Battery Wagner Sesquicentennial Commemoration and Stay at Old City Jail, Charleston: July 18 – 21

July 18, 2013 is the sesquicentennial of the Assault on Battery Wagner on Morris Island, SC. This Civil War battle was depicted in the 1989 award winning movie Glory, starring Matthew Broderick, Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington. Some of the African American men taken as prisoners during the battle were held in the Old City Jail in Charleston, SC. In addition to commemorating the battle on Morris Island as African Americans reenactors have been doing for the past ten year, for the 150th anniversary we will spend the nights of July 18 – 20 in the Old City Jail.

College of Charleston

For the second consecutive year an institution of higher learning will be among the places stayed. That institution will be the College of Charleston which is located well within the city limits of Charleston, SC. It is said that 40% of the African American population of the United States can trace their ancestry back to the port of Charleston, SC. The College of Charleston stay and programs associated with it will provide the opportunity to interpret how institutions factored into chattel slavery in the United States. This stay will also provide the opportunity to further interpret how slavery existed in urban areas.

Ossabaw Island, GA: Friday, May 10 – Saturday, May 11

Abolishing the international slave trade in 1808 did not end the institution of slavery in the United States. No longer did the slave ships deliver their cargo to the major ports such as Baltimore, Maryland; Charleston, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; or New Orleans, Louisiana but they still continued to deliver that cargo to more obscure places like the Sea Islands located off the coast of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. These islands make up the eastern most portion of the Gullah Geechee National Heritage Area Corridor. Ossabaw Island located off the coast of Georgia near Savannah was one of those islands. The overnight stay on Ossabaw Island will be my first in a slave cabin on a Sea Island.

Sotterly Plantation, St. Mary's City, MD: Sunday, September 22 – Tuesday, September 24

Historic St. Mary’s City, Maryland will be my second stay in that state. The first was Sotterley Plantation in Hollywood. Quite surprisingly, this stay will happen as a result of a presentation that I gave at a public program at Sweet Briar College in Virginia. The organizers of the Maryland stay were audience members and made the offer and I of course accepted.

Boone Hall Plantation, Mt. Pleasant, SC: November 8 – 10

Boone Hall Plantation in Mt. Pleasant, SC will be a stay of opportunity. The Assault on Battery Wagner, the battle depicted in the movie Glory will be reenacted at Boone Hall Plantation in 2013. Although the battle historically took place on Morris Island which is located in the Charleston harbor, it is logistically impossible to reenact a battle there because you can only get there by boat. While the reenactors sleep in there encampments, I will again inhabit the slave cabins.

How to Participate

For those of you who shared the slave dwelling experience with me in 2012 or in any prior year, you know the routine, you are welcome to participate in any future stay(s). For those of you who have not shared the experience but would like to, please let me know as-soon-as-possible. I must seek permission from the property owners for your participation. I am especially interested in sharing the experience with descendants of the enslaved associated with the dwellings; descendants of slave owners; or descendants of a slave and a slave owner. Whatever the category, all are welcome because the ultimate goal is to bring much needed attention to extant slave dwellings in the United States.

Slave Dwelling Project 2013 Schedule

• Friday, March 1: Hopsewee, Georgetown, SC

• March 8 – 9: Laurelwood Plantation, Eastover, SC

• Friday, April 12 – Sunday, April 14: Pilgrimage, Holly Springs, Mississippi

• Friday, May 10 – Saturday, May 11: Ossabaw Island, Georgia

• Friday, June 14 – Saturday, June 15: Juneteenth, Slave Dwelling, Salisbury, NC

• July 18 – 21: Old City Jail, Charleston, SC

• Wednesday, August 28: College of Charleston

• Sunday, September 22 – Tuesday, September 24: Sotterly Plantation, Historic St. Mary’s City, Maryland

• November 8 – 10: Boone Hall Plantation, Mt. Pleasant, SC

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Slave Dwelling Project Wraps Up 2012 Schedule with Stay at Boone Hall Plantation

Back to the Beginning

It was 12 years ago when I had my very first stay in a slave cabin at Boone Hall Plantation in Mt. Pleasant, SC. The event was filmed for a History Channel documentary titled The Unfinished Civil War. The documentary aired a few times but flopped because confederate reenactors came out in numbers and complained about the way they were portrayed.

It was during that stay 12 years ago that I woke up about 3:00 am to the sound of dogs barking in the background. I immediately thought of slaves trying to escape and being chased by dogs. Today, just as I am curious about my ancestry, I look at blood hounds and wonder if their blood line includes dogs that were once used to hunt down escaping slaves.

Fast forward 12 years and I again got the opportunity to spend the night in a cabin at Boone Hall Plantation. This time would be different. This stay would occur during the reenactment of the Civil War battle known as Secessionville, an historic battle that occurred on James Island, SC 150 years earlier. For years this battle has been reenacted at Boone Hall making it the largest Civil War battle reenactment in the state of South Carolina.

Although I had participated in the reenactment in various ways in the past, I saw this as a great opportunity for the reenactment and the Slave Dwelling Project to merge. I was urged by the property owners to coordinate my stay with the organizers of the reenactment which turned out to be a good strategy because this event was theirs and not mine. The organizers gave me an offer that I could not refuse.

We agreed that I would come in on Friday, November 9th to address the school kids that would be coming to the event. My subject would be the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. I addressed hundreds of kids from 2nd grade through middle school and homeschoolers. I really enjoyed testing their knowledge of the Civil War and inserting the story of how African Americans became soldiers for the Union army. Their reactions were varied to my intent to stay in one of the slave cabins the following two nights.

They are Not Always What They Seem

I had obtained from the property owner the permission for others to join me in the stay in the cabin and by this time in the project I have come accustomed to it. Several people made promises to do just that but for various reasons the first night in the cabin would be mine alone. Before the cabin experience, I had the opportunity to walk through the Union Civil War encampment and was quickly reminded of why I became a Civil War reenactor. Behind the big house where the camp was located was a sea of tents of various sizes with camp fires at random intervals burning throughout.

It was my goal to get to as many of those camp fires as I possibly could to interact with the people sitting around them. In the reenactment community we galvanize meaning we may put on the uniform of the opposing force so that we can give the public a more realistic representation of a Civil War battle. It is far easier for some to galvanize than others however galvanizing does not change ones personal opinions or beliefs about the Civil War. As I walked through the camp, the groups would tell me which Union group that they would represent during the battle reenactment. They would also tell me which Confederate group they represent most often. As I continued to walk through the camp with the cover of darkness increasingly concealing my identity, I came across a conversation that was very racially insensitive so I decided that was not the best encampment of which to interact.

All of my other encounters were quite rewarding the most of which was a free concert. Drawn by the music, I came upon a camp fire scene where two musicians were playing banjos and one was playing a guitar and several people were singing. I joined in and for me they played and sang Amazing Grace. After the song my immediate instinct was to query the participants about the history of the song but not wanting to be out of order, I continued to enjoy the free concert.

Since my first stay in the cabin, Boone Hall had done a wonderful job with their restoration. I chose the cabin with the Sweet Grass basket display in it. I came prepared as usual anticipating that I would need the use of lanterns but the electricity needed to operate the displays made the lanterns unnecessary. All of the cabins were equipped with displays that, with the push of a button, all visitors could learn about some aspect of the cabins and the people who inhabited them. Sleeping alone in the cabin was not a challenge because I was well aware of all of the activities related to the reenactment that was happening on the property. The solitude was welcome. It gave me the opportunity to reminiscence about the Slave Dwelling Project and how it can be enhanced.

The Rest of the Story

Saturday would be the first day for reenacting the battle. Waking up alone in the cabin early that morning, gave me a great opportunity to do some writing. The 39 degree temperature made it somewhat of a challenge to keep warm but a campfire that was burning not so far from the cabin was welcoming. One of the event organizers came by to invite me back to the 2013 event.

The Civil War camps began to come alive; the suttlers (Civil War merchants) opened their doors; the sweet grass basket makers manned their station; and Boone Hall employees opened all of the cabins for public viewing. The interpreter for the slave street story came by to write the times on a chalk board for which she would be telling the stories of the cabins and the people who lived in them. I listened intently to the first presentation and was thoroughly impressed. Because I was not officially on the docket, I asked if I could have some time with her future audiences to talk about the Slave Dwelling Project. Lucky for me, she heard my interpretation to the school kids the day before and agreed that I could be value added to her message. That tag team approach went over well and has some potential for future development. I got various reactions from the audiences. One gentleman regrettably confessed to me that his ancestors were slave owners. One other couple made me aware of a lone cabin in Tennessee of which they can help me gain access.

Anyone who has been keeping up with the project through this blog know that Terry James (Old Reliable) has stayed in a slave dwelling with me more times than any other person. He would join me the second night. When he got there early in the evening, all of the food vendors were closed so getting him fed would be a challenge. That challenge was easily overcome when on our first stop at the Union camp, we were offered dinner which we unhesitatingly accepted. We dined on a green bean and a potato mixture, navy beans and ham which were deliciously all cooked over an open fire. We thanked the cooks but passed on the very tempting dessert that they offered us.

The Battle of Secessionville Civil War reenactment included a ball which was held at the Cotton Dock on the plantation. Terry and I made our appearance there before we turned in for the night. While there, the invitations for our Civil War group to participate in an upcoming battle reenactment continued. This invitation was one of several which will unfortunately not be honored because our membership has been stagnant for the past few years.

Before entering the cabin for the night, we spent a little time around the fire talking about some of the notable past slave dwellings stays. Inside the cabin, Terry attached the shackles to his wrists and we both feel asleep.

The next morning as the camps started to come alive, we cleaned up the cabin, took lots of pictures and went our separate ways.

The Future of the Project

So there you have it, the Slave Dwelling Project 2012. The year 2013 will hold some surprises and firsts for the project. There will be some repeat stays but because of my stay at Bacon’s Castle in Surry, Virginia those stays will be more robust. Like the stay at Sweet Briar College in Virginia, there will be another institution of higher learning added to the roster. Private owners will be well represented.

In its existence, the Slave Dwelling Project has covered Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. There are states that are blatantly missing from the list. Ambassadors, your mission, should you choose to accept, be it a plantation or urban slavery, help find those places in those states that can help further the cause of the Slave Dwelling Project.

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Slave Dwelling Project Visits Bacon's Castle, Surry County, VA

After a 3 month hiatus, the Slave Dwelling Project came back strong with two stays in Virginia. The first of the stays was Bacon’s Castle which occurred on Friday, October 5, 2012. Constructed in 1665 in Surry County on the south side of the James River, Bacon's Castle is the oldest brick structure in North America. Best known for its connection to the Bacon’s Rebellion, it was home to Arthur Allen, his heirs, and other planters and their families from the seventeenth to the twentieth century.

When the Slave Dwelling project was in its infancy, I got a visit in my Charleston office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation from staff members of Preservation Virginia. They thought that the project would go over well at Bacon’s Castle. I remember being impressed that even at that early stage, the project had gained enough relevancy to garner the attention of this statewide organization. I vaguely remember telling Jennifer Hurst, Associate Director for Museum Operations and Education, that my time spent with them should be maximized. That part of the conversation came across to her loud and clear because maximizing my time is exactly what she did. As a result of Jennifer’s planning, the project directly interacted with more people than any other stay to date. Let me explain.

With the date chosen, it would still be about a year before the stay would occur. That time was utilized quite effectively with Jennifer planning and promoting the project on her end and me on mine. Social media played a big role in the buildup to the stay most notably yielding at least one guest that would share the stay at Bacon’s Castle. About two weeks prior to the trip, I had an interview from a Surry County, Virginia newspaper reporter which resulted in a newspaper article. An additional notice of the stay was printed in the local paper on the day the stay occurred. My ongoing involvement with the group Coming to the Table (CTTT) would also play a big role in this stay.

My first direct action with the Bacon’s Castle stay would occur in Richmond, VA. Jennifer arranged for me to spend my first night at historic Linden Row Inn. I was the honored dinner guest of members of the board of directors of Preservation Virginia. I had the pleasure of giving them a synopsis of the Slave Dwelling Project. I praised them for making Virginia state number twelve for the Slave Dwelling Project.

Joseph McGill in 54th Mass Uniform

Photo Courtesy of Toni Battle

In planning the events associated with the sleepover at Bacon’s Castle, Jennifer insisted that I bring my Civil War uniform. After explaining to Jennifer that when I fly to the sleepovers I lighten my carry-on luggage by not bringing my Civil War uniform, she continued to insist with her reason being that I was going to address children in the Surry County school system. Address the children I did, senior high, middle school and 3rd and 4th graders! It was an overall great experience as I adjusted the message to accommodate the age of the children that I addressed at the time. The students, some of whom had visited Bacon’s Castle the day before, responded accordingly with highly intelligent and engaging questions in the end.

While presenting to the first school group, Toni Battle of San Francisco and Devin Berry of Oakland, California showed up. I was expecting them. I met both of them in March of this year at the national gathering of the group Coming to the Table. Devin was my roommate while in Richmond and vowed that he would join me in a future stay. He's a man of his word, Bacon’s Castle would be that stay. Toni made it clear in Richmond that the ancestors are with me on this project even if I am in denial. Both Toni and Devin and one other Coming to the Table member, Prinny Anderson would spend the night in the slave cabin at Bacon’s Castle.

Arriving at Bacon’s Castle on the day of the stay was not the first time for me but it was for Toni and Devin. The three of us arriving together proved invaluable because the photographic documentation began instantly, an important element that had been missing in this project to date. Although I had been in the slave cabin before, having the pleasure of witnessing Toni and Devin experience the space for the first time was quite moving. Containing four rooms on two levels, the structure is the only one of eighteen slave cabins left on the property and is situated among several other out buildings. Jennifer’s planning ensured that in a matter of hours seventeen people would occupy the two lower levels. Jennifer had already apprised me of the guest list and the one of which I was most skeptical was that of the media representative for I have been burned by that promise many times before.

Community Elders Outside Bacon's Castle Slave Dwelling

Photo Courtesy of Toni Battle

In an attempt to strengthen the relationship between Bacon’s Castle and the African American community, early in the planning of this event, Jennifer and I decided others should be given the opportunity to share the slave dwelling experience with me. In addition to the local people scheduled to stay that night, people from North Carolina, Texas and California were also scheduled to stay. Early in the evening, as we gathered in the big house, the people started to show: Barbara and Judy Anderson, two sister whose great-great grandmother was once enslaved at Bacon’s Castle; Michael Ray Vines, Jr. a student at Virginia State University, Reverend Daniel Baltimore, the Pastor of Mt. Nebo Baptist Church in Surry; Allison T. Williams a reporter for the Daily Press and a host of others. Ghost stories seemed to permeate the conversation but it became obvious that the local African American community rarely interacted with Bacon’s Castle.

Hearing the testimonials of why they all chose to spend the night in the slave cabin at Bacon’s Castle was verification to me of why the Slave Dwelling Project was necessary. Of all those testimonies, none meant more to me than the fact that I was sharing the experience with the Anderson sister whose great-great grandmother was enslaved at Bacon’s Castle.

After moving the group to the cabin, we all claimed our spot on the floor where we would place our sleeping bags to bed down for the night. On the porch of the cabin, a live video streaming and live chat were attempted. The chat was successful the video streaming failed. Time was then allowed for Toni Battle to conduct smudging which is blessing the space inside the cabin before we all moved outside again to form a circle for the pouring of libation as we were all reminded that this occasion was about honoring the ancestors.

Cotton Fields at Bacon's Castle

Photo Courtesy of Toni Battle

The following day was full of activities as demonstrations and presentations were planned throughout. Early that morning, before the audience began to arrive, one totally unplanned event happened. Devon Berry, Toni Battle, Prinny Anderson and me, all members of the group Coming to the Table all found ourselves at the cotton field bordering Bacon’s Castle. Although cotton was not the crop of which the enslaved at Bacon’s Castle labored, it was comforting that me and Devon, the descendants of slaves; Toni Battle, the descendant of slaves and whose ancestors were the subjects of lynching; and Prinny Anderson a descendant of Thomas Jefferson could all gather in a cotton field on a plantation to talk about the subject of slavery and the healing process. It was even more comforting that on our way back from that visit to the cotton field, we encountered one of the Anderson sisters whose ancestor was once enslaved at Bacon’s Castle. We learned from Mrs. Anderson that because of her opportunity to spend a night in the cabin, more opportunities for interacting with Bacon’s Castle now exist, more specifically, her becoming a volunteer tour guide and discussing with the rest of the family the possibility of having a family reunion on the property. Personally that alone would be mission accomplished for the Slave Dwelling Project but there was more to come.

Chef Harold Caldwell Prepares Black Eyed Pea Cakes

Photo Courtesy of Toni Battle

The most noted presenter of the day was Harold Caldwell an employee of Colonial Williamsburg who demonstrated period cooking. It was a pleasure to observe him as he interacted with his audience. His method of engaging them at every opportunity was inspiring to me. Sampling his creations was an added bonus. When I told him about my one experience of cooking beef stew in a slave cabin and the critique I got about slaves not having access to beef, he made me aware that it really depended on the plantation owner and that there are accounts of some masters issuing their slave beef or other meat products. The overall experience with Mr. Caldwell has certainly opened my mind to similar programs at other slave dwellings in the future.

It was a pleasure for me to interact with the people who came out to partake in the activities planned for the day. I had three occasions to address the visitors about the Slave Dwelling Project. I used the occasion to yield some time to some of the other people who shared the experience the prior night and to Jennifer to speak specifically about the history of the cabin and slavery at Bacon’s Castle. During the question and answer period after the second presentation. I got the question, “Can you tell my mom about the hat?” Initially the question was confusing to me because I was not wearing a hat at the time but then Jennifer immediately came to the rescue. Earlier that morning, I asked Jennifer if it was necessary that I wear the Civil War uniform, she replied that it was totally up to me, I chose not to. After hearing the question, Jennifer reminded me that the young student asking the question was a part of the school presentation the previous day and he remembered the hat that I wore with the Civil War uniform. His question was great on many fronts: methods of living history work, i.e. wearing period uniforms; the young man was successful in convincing his mother to bring him to the event; and Jennifer Hurst was right in insisting that I bring the Civil War uniform.

The Bacon’s Castle experience alone would put Virginia in the category of most exciting and engaging state for the Slave Dwelling Project thus far but before I left Virginia there was one more stay to be done. Next blog: Sweet Briar College, Sweet Briar, Virginia.

http://www.dailypress.com/news/isle-of-wight-county/dp-nws-slave-dwelling-project-20121008,0,6496097.story

Reflections from the Slave Dwelling: Joseph W. Jenkins

I am not a superstitious person but I come from a long line of people (farmers) who look for signs in nature to forecast events: The weather, how well or poorly their crops may turn out and when a child might enter the world.

A couple of days before my stay in the slave dwelling at Bacon’s Castle, as I drove down Rocky Bottom Road, I noticed, at the side of the road ahead of me, an unusual sight. As my car drew closer to the object, it took flight. It turned out to be a good sized hawk which was unable to gain altitude because of what it was holding in its talons. As I drew closer, I saw that the hawk was holding on to a large black bird – a raven. The predator hawk was flapping its wings but the raven’s weight was keeping it from ascending. I was concerned my car would hit the birds. As my car drove even closer to them, the hawk released its prey. The freed raven flapped its wings and quickly joined its flock that had been watching the drama unfold. The unsuccessful predator, having freed its burden, soared above the trees and into the sky.

The image of the drama stayed in my mind throughout that day and night as well. It even entered my thoughts the Friday afternoon while on my way to Bacon’s Castle. I kept trying to determine if what I witnessed was just something normal in nature, or was it some sort of sign?

I didn’t know what to expect from my stay in the slave dwelling. As the current president of the Surry County African American Heritage Society, I felt a sense of obligation to take part in the project to represent our organization and in some way, help make certain the truth about how the aftermath of Bacon’s Rebellion set the stage for the type of bigotry and discrimination we still have today. What is more, I felt that my stay in the slave cabin would provide a forum for me to express openly my strongly held belief that race is a lie and racism is a divisive, debilitating disease. My emotions and feeling of wonder heightened as I got closer to the main house on the castle estate.

When I entered the main house at Bacon’s Castle, the people who were to participate in the dwelling stay were already assembled and sitting in a circle. Introductions were made and we were given an opportunity to talk about our expectations relative to our participation. I was very impressed with the individuals who had come to participate. It was one thing to have Joseph McGill from South Carolina who was the project’s catalyst but it was quite another thing to be with individuals (descendants of Africans and Europeans) who had traveled from Texas, California, and North Carolina to be part of the project – together with Virginians whose family members were slaves on the very land we were occupying. So why did they come? To connect with their family history? To atone for someone’s past ills? To find release from guilt or just to acknowledge and better understand our country’s history? I guess we all had our known and perhaps suppressed reasons. Whatever the case, I noticed that as we talked the veil of unfamiliarity began to lower. Something unique was starting to unfold.

Perhaps one of the most extraordinary things occurred that Friday evening during and following the libation ceremony conducted by Ms. Toni Battle, who had come from San Francisco to take part in the project. Each of us was given an opportunity to remember and acknowledge our family members and ancestors. According to family lore, my paternal great grandmother (Cordelia), who was born of a free black woman, had at some point in her life worked at Bacon’s Castle. So, for me, there was a vague connection with the site. However, my maternal great grandfather, Peter Clarke, Sr., had been enslaved. Reportedly, he had been sold twice and was somewhat proud of a scar that was on his light complexioned face. We can only speculate as to how his facial wound came about and why it was a source of pride for him.

Given that bit of family history, I decided to dedicate my stay in the slave dwelling to the memory of my great grandfather, Peter Clarke, Sr., and all the people who endured the pain, suffering and humiliation of slavery in this country.

After the ceremony, we all remained standing in front of the slave dwelling and began to talk about all manner of things related to the dwelling, the plantation, the institution of slavery – and its impact on society; the pain and humiliation people endured; the stupidity of discrimination based on skin color; race as a social construct; the system of economic divide and conquer, and so on. As the content of our discussion became deeper, our inhibitions lowered even more. I felt that “we the people” were at long last being open and honest with each other about our anger, our fears, our pain and even our hopes. Truth was being spoken and something more honest was about to happen. And then it was time to lay down our heads on the slave cabin floor.

The cabin is rather small and it’s hard to believe that, at one time, it housed four families: Two on the first floor and two on the second. Fortunately, the cabin had a wooden floor. (Some slave cabins had dirt floors.) I anticipated gross discomfort being on the floor in my sleeping bag but to my surprise, I didn’t have any aches or pains.

As I lay there on the room with six other people in our section of the building, I guess I was waiting for something unusual to happen – -I had no idea what. Two of the people chatted about their families and ancestors. Two eighteen year old college students kidded with each other and my thoughts drifted everywhere and nowhere.

I tried to picture myself as a person enslaved. What would I do? How would I handle it? Could I survive the ordeal? Macho man notions entered my mind. Of course, I would invoke warrior powers and fight and prevail against all odds and reclaim my freedom and ride off into the sunset – to go where in a place I didn’t know? What would I do? And then I recalled hearing Billie Holiday’s song about southern trees bearing strange fruit. That was disconcerting.

As I lay there on the wooden floor, nothing mystical happened. I don’t think I expected anything to happen but it occurred to me that we folks of African ancestry are, in many ways, a unique and blessed people. We have survived trials in this land by the strength of our faith, the power of our hope and our capacity to find light in the darkness of despair. While I did not consciously expect anything in particular to happen while in the cabin, I was glad to be there at that time for whatever it mattered and for whatever difference it might make.

Out of the window that faced southeast, I saw a distant star that held my attention. I searched for meaning in it. It said nothing in particular. It just stared back from a distance. In the meantime, the students to my left were still restless and perhaps somewhat disengaged from the experience. So, at about 4:00AM, it occurred to me that perhaps this old man might be able to say or do something that they may recall favorably when, years from now, they think about their experience at Bacon’s Castle. So, I told them that our African ancestors who were brought here were not a homogeneous people. They came from different cultures, spoke different languages and had different religious beliefs. Some were animists. Some were Christians and some practiced Islam. I told them that it must have been extremely challenging for those diverse groups of people to be thrown together and to become one people in the harshest of circumstances. I told them about Bilal ibn Rabah, a black African who was born into slavery in Arabia. Bilal was treated inhumanly by his master and he was persecuted severely when he became one of the earliest followers of the Prophet Muhammad. However, despite the abuse Bilal ibn Rabah had to endure, he attained an honored status among the followers of his faith. He was the first person to call the Adhan (the Muslim call to prayer) at the Kabah in Mecca. His call to prayer is made five times a day and is heard around the world. And for the students, I called the Adhan.

I wanted the two students to know that despite their hardships; despite their setbacks; and despite their disappointments, they can make a difference in the world like Bilal ibn Rabah and so many other people throughout history.

Although it was unintentional, the call to prayer woke up Joe McGill (who slept next to me) and Toni Battle and Prinny Anderson, who slept on the other side of the cabin. Toni and Prinny came and sat with me and Joe McGill, and we all talked at length about all manner of things related to our country’s history and the general plight of our people. We agreed that the need for broad discussion among people of goodwill within our nation is a catalyst for healing, reconciliation and progress. We talked about the depth of the challenge we face in bringing people together and helping to end animus and the stupidity of discrimination based on skin color. We agreed there is a need for initiatives like “Coming To the Table” and the Slave Dwelling Project to raise awareness of the festering sore on the face of our nation. I pledged anew to myself to join the struggle.

During our early morning exchange, the image of the hawk and the raven I encountered a couple of days earlier came to my mind. I asked my colleagues what they might infer from my encounter: Had I just witnessed a natural phenomenon or could it have been a sign related to our experience at Bacon’s Castle. I’m not sure that we reached a consensus about the matter but I felt better knowing the raven went free to live out the day.

Sleeping Overnight at the Bacon’s Castle Slave Quarters: Prinny Anderson

The one remaining slave quarter at Bacon’s Castle, Surry, VA, is a white clapboard, four-room cabin, two rooms upstairs, two rooms down, each room home to a family, used since it was built in the late 1820’s until the last sharecropper moved out in the 1950’s. It saw 130 years of lives in bondage and servitude.

The cabin is among the outbuildings on the grounds of Bacon’s Castle, built around 1665 by Arthur Allen, and one of the only three remaining Jacobean style mansions in the Western Hemisphere. It took its name from Bacon’s Rebellion, which took place in 1676, when the house was occupied and the Allen family was temporarily driven away.

http://preservationvirginia.org/index.php/visit/historic-properties/bacons-castle

Bacon’s Rebellion was an uprising of the frontiersmen, indentured people, and enslaved people, African and European. The alliance alarmed the ruling elite, and historians believe that the harsh response by the Virginia government and the racialization of slavery were among the results.

On October 5, 2012, about 20 people gathered in a front room of the Big House at Bacon’s Castle for introductions and conversation. In the group were two sisters, Barbara and Judy, descendants of a woman who was enslaved at Bacon’s Castle, accompanied by the pastor of a large Surry County, VA, church. Jennifer came all the way from Texas on a trip researching her Virginia ancestors, and Allison came to report the experience for the Daily Press. There were three college students, and Jennifer, Lou, Joe, and Ed from Preservation Virginia (PV) (http://preservationvirginia.org/ ), the Surry County African American Heritage Society (SCAAHS) (http://www.surryafricanheritage.com ), and the Surry County Historical Society (SCHS) (http://surrycounty.pastperfect-online.com/ ). Our convener for the evening was Joe McGill, whose Slave-Dwelling Project (SDP) was critical to the event (http://www.lowcountryafricana.com/tag/slave-dwelling-project/ ) and three of his fellow members of the Coming to the Table community, Toni Battle and Devin Berry, who had flown in from California, and Prinny Anderson, who drove in from Durham, NC. (http://www.comingtothetable.org/ ). We owe many thanks to the PV staff and friends who had the vision to create this historic event, who worked to shore up the cabin’s chimneys and floors, who made all the arrangements to make the stay safe and comfortable, and who stayed late and woke early to bring us food.

Group members had many reasons for showing up that evening to do something most of us, other than Joe McGill, had never done before. Repeated themes in our introductions were the desire to honor and acknowledge the lives and work of the enslaved people as important in American history and essential to its economic survival for 3 centuries. We were there because of family connections to enslaved families, as a result of our research into genealogy and family history, and in response to an invitation to be at a very special event. Our thanks to Joe McGill and his Slave-Dwelling project for the ongoing work he does and for creating this special occasion for us.

After a tasty picnic meal of ham biscuits, peanut soup, vegetables, and apple fritters under the bright lights over the work yard behind the mansion, we moved to the slave cabin and set up our sleeping spaces. Joe McGill and Jennifer Hurst (Preservation Virginia) wrestled with the technology in an effort to provide streaming video via YouTube and an online chat through Facebook – both challenging with 4G connection only and no wifi.

As the evening darkened into night, we rededicated our sleeping quarters to the sacred memory of the enslaved ancestors who had lived there, and in an outdoor circle and we called to mind family members and ancestors who represented our connections to the place and to one another.

Something about dedicating the space and our actions along with the darkness, the mild breezes, and the dim lanterns seemed to encourage forth the questions and truths that were resting on our hearts and minds. What kind of strength and courage allowed the former inhabitants of this cabin to endure? How could we, today, even begin to imagine their daily lives? What kind of belief system allowed the European landowners to own, trade and oppress the imported African people? Why did “black” become “bad”? What’s up with white people, such that individual and institutional racism persist? What prevents white people from seeing the harm and from dismantling the systems that perpetuate it? What will it take to get white people to change?

We told about the family stories and the traditions of our faiths and our foremothers and forefathers that brought us to this place and these questions, the stories and traditions that sustain us through the sorrow and pain. We talked about managing the anger, finding ways to speak truth without alienating those who need to hear – learning to “catch more flies with honey,” as Joe put it. We talked about living with the shame and sadness of recognizing today how many years of oppression, harm and destruction we and our kin had perpetrated. And all through the conversations, wove personal stories, family stories, memories, and questions. By the time we fell asleep, Barbara and Judy had convinced us that the loving presence of Grandmother Camilla was smiling on us, and in the morning, we were awakened by the dawn call to prayer.

On the 6th, Preservation Virginia held “History Day” at Bacon’s Castle. Speaking to the visitors, Jennifer described the history of the slave quarters and Joe told stories of the Slave-Dwelling Project. Toni, Devin and Prinny spoke about why they had spent the night and what it was like. The visitors shared their stories. One woman pointed out where her family’s cabin had been and recounted the hard realities of the sharecroppers’ lives. A student who had heard Joe McGill speak the day before at his middle school told how he had insisted that his mother bring him to Bacon’s Castle for another dose of history.

CTTT’s Art Carter drove over from the Eastern Shore of Virginia to meet people from the African American Heritage Society. CTTT’s involvement in this particular SDP sleepover began several months ago when PV and Joe McGill invited us to partner with them, not just for this occasion, but potentially on an ongoing basis. In parallel with The Slave-Dwelling Project’s mission of bringing recognition to the lives and contributions of the enslaved Africans, PV wants to encourage SCAAHS and SCHS to take their interest in local history to another level of telling the meaning of the histories of the people, the land, the lives, and the events, and weaving local history into American history, making the stories of African Americans, Native Americans and European Americans of Tidewater Virginia into the stories of all Americans.

Three weeks before the SDP overnight, PV staff members Jennifer and Todd went with Prinny Anderson from CTTT to meet with the SCAAHS. After Prinny’s talk about the work of CTTT, the chairman of SCAAHS asked if the time was right for their organization to begin talking openly about race, about the story of the races in Surry County, and its meaning for the country. By the end of the meeting, the SCAAHS members were discussing Bacon’s Rebellion and the racialization of slavery in the U.S., events that happened in their back yards, a story directly linked to their stories, and a story worth bringing forward into the national consciousness.

CTTT hopes that through its participation in these events and whatever further activities are planned, it can support PV, the Heritage Society and the Historical Society in continuing the conversation about the issues raised during the night at Bacon’s Castle and in reaching the goals sketched out at the SCAAHS meeting three weeks before.

Links to the Daily Press stories about the October 5/6 overnight and a video made by Allison Williams, the reporter, about the Slave-Dwelling Project’s work:

Announcement of overnight: http://www.dailypress.com/news/isle-of-wight-county/dp-nws-soj-notebook-1005-20121004,0,1860127.story

First story: http://www.dailypress.com/news/isle-of-wight-county/dp-nws-slave-dwelling-project-20121008,0,6496097.story

Reflections from reporter: http://www.dailypress.com/news/isle-of-wight-county/dp-nws-soj-notebook-1012-20121011,0,549403.story

Video – Slave Dwelling Project: http://www.dailypress.com/videogallery/72790797/News/Video-Slave-Dwelling-Project

From Whence We Come: Toni Renee Battle

I met Joseph McGill, Jr. in March of 2012 and he told me about his work through The Slave Dwelling Project. I found within my spirit an immediate response to his work. My steps were being ordered to partake in this ancestral journey. We met at the Coming To the Table (CTTT) national gathering, which brought together descendants of the enslaved, slave owners and slave traders for the purposes of healing from the legacy of slavery, but also doing action work, creating safe spaces for difficult conversations and family history research in today’s times.

Devin Berry, who is also a member of CTTT, and I committed to attending a slave dwelling overnight with Joseph during the same weekend. Through community donations, he and I were able to embark on an incredible experience that will last a lifetime.

We arrived in VA and spent our first day in Surry, VA at school assemblies watching Joseph, dressed as a Black union soldier, provide a historical narrative to the youth, 1st through 12th grades, and also give some background to the previous slave dwellings he had visited in the past. We also had an opportunity to explore Bacon’s Castle plantation together with Joseph, prior to the other guests arriving for that evening’s overnight.

As we drove onto the plantation grounds, Devin and I turned to each other asking the same question, “Did you feel your breathing change and your chest tighten up?” It was as if, our ancestral spirits were responding to the history of the land we had just drove onto. We quickly got out of the car and began taking photos of the “BIG house” and of the incredibly long driveway leading onto the plantation grounds. After parking, Joseph excitedly asked us if we were ready to visit the slave cabin we would be staying in for the evening. Devin and I immediately said at the same time, “YES!” The three of us walked behind the big house and saw a cabin sitting just beyond a tree. It was white-washed and rustic. The closer we got, the more emotion I felt. Here we were, three Black folks in 2012, descended from the enslaved, two of us Black men, one of us descended from the enslaved, slave master and slave trader, about to walk into our ancestral past; what a moment!

Devin Berry Pays Homage to the Ancestors

Photo Courtesy of Toni Battle

As Joseph opened the cabin doors, Devin and I looked at each other and entered sacred space. If the walls could talk there would be stories of pain, horror, joy and sadness. The wood seemed to scream at me as I ran my hands along its roughness. Immediately I begin singing, “There’s a sweet, sweet spirit in this place, there’s a sweet, sweet spirit in this place!” You could feel the ancestors’ spirits within this dwelling. I immediately felt a sacredness in the space as the three of us took photos. To see Devin dressed in jeans and a tee-shirt and Joseph in a union uniform was as if the past and present were talking at the same time. As Black men standing there, with one foot in the past and one foot in the present, in a slave cabin was very powerful. The three of us experiencing it together was as if the ancestors were whispering over our shoulders as we looked out the window onto the slave quarters, “From whence we come!”

Toni Battle's First Experience of Bacon's Castle Slave Dwelling

Later that evening we met the rest of the group that would be staying with us and proceeded over to the slave cabin. During the evening we blessed the cabin, conducted libation, celebrating the ancestors and those who were enslaved on the land and then we gathered together in the two rooms of the cabin. We shared sacred stories of our family histories and we were blessed to hear the Anderson sisters (two women from the Surry, VA area) share with us that their great-great grandmother had been enslaved at Bacon’s Castle Plantation and they were overnighting as a way of paying respects to her memory. I asked one of the sisters what it felt like for her to be in the cabin, on the land her ancestors had been enslaved on; she responded, “I thought I would feel anger, but I feel nothing but my grandmother’s love as if she’s right here with us. I can’t begin to tell you what an amazing experience this is for us! It’s very healing. I’ve drove past this plantation the last 30 years and wanted no parts of it. But The Slave Dwelling Project seemed different. It told OUR story.” We all listened in great appreciation and reflected on our own feelings.

I laid down with Prinny Anderson (another CTTT member) and Devin on purpose, because I wanted to have the experience of us sharing this sacred space together. During the night, Prinny and I heard a woman singing in the distance. We both later smiled, feeling our ancestors were letting us know they were in the space with us. Before dawn, we were awakened by Mr. Joe Jenkins, of Surry, VA. Before dawn he sung the Muslim morning call to prayer. He sung it in honor of the enslaved who were Muslim and forced to convert to Christianity as a means of stripping them of their identities. One of the first things that were done to the enslaved were before boarding the slave ships, they were baptized into Christianity and given “good, Christian” names. They were forbidden to practice anything representative of their previous culture, traditions, religions or language. As Mr. Jenkins’ deep voice traveled the slave cabin, my very soul answered. My body sat straight up and I rose and walked to the other side where he sat singing in the new day. I sat with others, as tears ran down my face in awe of the very reverence of the moment.

Entire Bacon's Castle Sleepover Family

Photo Courtesy of Toni Battle

The day was filled with the community coming out to learn about the history of Bacon’s Castle, which for the first time included the enslaved narrative in a very authentic way. Many from the Black community in Surry, stated it was the first time many of them had been on the land in decades. They believed The Slave Dwelling Project had provided an opportunity to begin a new chapter of healing from the legacy of slavery. Family members descended from the enslaved of Bacon’s Castle shared oral stories of their ancestors, elders shared experiences of their families sharecropping post slavery and some shared their hopes that the day had birthed a starting point of a new relationship with the plantation’s past. There were tears, sacred storytelling, laughter, cooking of traditional Black and Native food dishes, and lots of hugging and listening to shared pains and joys. I found myself at a tree facing the slave cabin and being brought to tears as I looked around. Wasn’t this what the ancestors had just whispered over Devin, Joseph and my shoulders the previous day? “From whence WE come!”

The Slave Dwelling Project was an opportunity for me to not only pay homage to the ancestors and educate others about the need to preserve these dwellings as part of the historical narrative, but it was also a way for me to begin healing some of the generational grief and wounded history within my ancestral line. This was one of the most sacred experiences of my entire life!

5

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 states. Known as the Slave Dwelling Project, past stays have included cabins on plantations to dependency buildings in urban settings or attic space in the main house, these dwellings are built of wood, brick, stone or whatever was available in the area at the time of construction.

Plantations that housed the enslaved that toiled in fields of rice, tobacco, cotton, sugarcane and hemp have all been stops along the way for the Slave Dwelling Project. Urban dependencies that housed the enslaved that serviced the mansions or the businesses that existed within antebellum cities have also been stops for the Project. Fellow Civil War reenactors, school teachers, tour guides, writers and descendants of slaves and slave owners are only a few of the categories of approximately fifty people that have shared the experience with me.

Through this journey there was only one stay that eluded me, the offer that I had to refuse. Stay Number 16, Laurelwood Plantation was placed on the list as a result of collaborating with the Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation. Included in the mission of the Palmetto Trust is the preservation of historic buildings located throughout the State of South Carolina.

One method that the Trust uses for preservation is acquiring historic properties through a revolving fund, placing easements on them and selling the property to a preservation friendly buyer. Laurelwood Plantation was such a property. I had all confidence that the stay would occur swimmingly because my seventh stay at Morris Street in Anderson, SC was also arranged by the Palmetto Trust.

This stay was scheduled for Friday, April 15, 2011 to coincide with the day the Trust would celebrate the sale of the site to its new owners Jackie and Jeremy Thomas. When I arrived that day a group of supporters had already gathered there to celebrate with the new owners. On many occasions up until that point, I always made it my business to get to each site no-later-than 5:00 pm because it was necessary that I check each place thoroughly before dark. Unfortunately, sleeping in the slave cabin on the site on that night was not meant to be due to its dilapidated state. Had I known this prior to showing up on the property, it would not have been placed on the calendar for the Slave Dwelling Project. All was not lost because I did the next best thing by sleeping on the porch of the mansion which also needed to be restored.

Priority for preservation for the new owners was of course the mansion but they assured me that restoring the cabin was on their short list of things to do. I praised their intent and enthusiasm knowing that similar promises from other owners had been made but to that date restoration of those places was still pending. Additionally, the new owners were also in the process of relocating from England to Eastover, SC.

Well, I kept in touch with Jeremy. I even went back for a visit to the site when he returned from England to check on the progress of the work that was being done to the mansion. Jeremy had to deal with some very serious contractual matters but despite that, he again assured me that he would restore the cabin and grant me access for educational purposes.

The Good News

The Richland County Conservation Commission has granted the Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation a $25,000 grant to restore the cabin. The grantee agrees to provide a 20% match of cash or in-kind services of at least $5,000 for a minimum project cost of $30,000. More specifically the grant will be used to rebuild the rock chimney and fireplace; replace the rock foundation and piers; repair the floor system and exterior siding and replace the roof.

The restoration is currently underway and upon completion, I will conduct that stay in the cabin that eluded me. That stay is scheduled for Saturday, November 3, 2012. More importantly, I will work with the owner and the Palmetto Trust to develop programs to interpret the dwelling.

Thanks to the Richland County Conservation Commission, the Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation and the willing property owners, Jackie and Jeremy Thomas, the slave cabin at Laurelwood Plantation has become the best example of why the Slave Dwelling Project has to continue.

Related Links

http://www.aboutourfreedom.com/2011/05/slave-dwellings-owners-saving-landmarks.html

0

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 McGill who will speak on his Slave Dwelling Project on Tuesday, September 18 at 7:00 pm at the DNR auditorium at Fort Johnson, 217 Fort Johnson Road, Charleston, SC.

McGill is with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and is a reenactor with the 54th Massachusetts Regiment. To quote one source, “His message is strikingly simple. He spends the night in various slave dwellings (cabins or quarters within homes) as they currently exist throughout the United States to convey a direct message - This Place Matters.”

McGill has spent the night in 36 extant slave dwellings in 11 states. On June 19, 2010 (Juneteenth), he spent the night at McLeod Plantation and was accompanied by two fellow Civil War reenactors, one of whom is a descendent of an enslaved family at McLeod.

“McLeod is a perfect example of restoring buildings that have the potential to tell a segment of the complete story of Americaʼs past,” says McGill. “More specifically, the slave cabins are a rare part of the African American-built environment that has often been only a footnote in American history,” adds McGill.

McGillʼs presentation is suitable for students, families and friends. When McLeod Plantation is opened to the public, possibly next year, this lecture is one of a series of informative topics that the Friends of McLeod are preparing so all will have some knowledge about the beauty and the history of what they will see at this last remaining plantation on James Island.

A reception will be held after the lecture so everyone can meet Mr. McGill.

This program is co-sponsored with a grant from The SC Humanities Council.

0

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.

George Washington

No stranger to tourists, arguably the Heyward Washington House is the most historically significant stay to date for the Slave Dwelling Project. If one can overcome its biggest obstacle, that is, finding a parking space close by, they could easily be amazed by all the site has to offer. Its website http://www.charlestonmuseum.org/heyward-washington-house states the following:

“Located in the downtown Historic District, within the area of the original walled city, this brick double house was built in 1772 by rice planter Daniel Heyward as a town-house for his son, Thomas Heyward, Jr. The City rented it for George Washington's use during the President's week-long Charleston stay, in May 1791, and it has traditionally been called the "Heyward-Washington House."

Thomas Heyward, Jr. (1746-1809) was a patriot leader, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and artillery officer with the South Carolina militia during the American Revolution. Captured when the British took Charleston in 1780, he was exiled to St. Augustine, Florida, but was exchanged in 1781. Heyward sold the house in 1794. It was acquired by the Museum in 1929, opened the following year as Charleston's first historic house museum, and was recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 1978.

Here you will experience a magnificent collection of Charleston-made furniture including the priceless Holmes Bookcase, considered to be the finest example of American-made furniture. Other buildings on the site include the carriage shed, with an 18th-century well just beneath, and the kitchen building (the only preserved kitchen of its time open to the public in Charleston), which was constructed in the 1740s. The exquisite formal garden features plants familiar to Charlestonians in the late 18th century, and the picturesque surrounding neighborhood was used by Dubose Heyward as the setting for Porgy and Bess.”

It is those other buildings mentioned on the website that gives the Slave Dwelling Project its purpose that is to tell the rest of the story. Of those other buildings, the kitchen is where I along with Terry James and Paul Garbarini would spend the night on Friday, June 15, 2012 but more about that later. Who made the bricks to build the Heyward -Washington House and other houses in the city of Charleston prior to the emancipation of slaves? Who physically built the houses? Who serviced the houses? It is questions like those that inspire me to carry on with this project.

Heyward Washington House, Charleston, SC

35 stays in 11 states has allowed the Slave Dwelling Project to become more refined. I now insist on conducting at least one public program to accompany each overnight stay. This works well for properties that are open to public visitation on a daily basis. It has also proven successful at some properties that are privately owned however, that choice will continue to be at the discretion of the property owner.

The Heyward-Washington House presented a great opportunity to conduct a public program before the stay. This stay was also an opportunity for the Slave Dwelling Project to further enhance its collaboration with the South Carolina National Heritage Corridor. The publicity leading up to the event generated a respectable diverse audience of project followers, neighbors and new comers who in my opinion, made the question and answer period more interesting than the lecture itself. The weather cooperated to provide the best open air class room for the project. Me, the audience seated comfortably, the “big house”, the kitchen and all the other buildings were all within fifteen feet of each other.

JosephMcGill Converses with Visitors, Heyward Washington House, Charleston, SC

The space where we would sleep was adorned with many of the items that may have been found in a functioning kitchen of that period. We did not have access to the second level of the structure but it was historically used for sleeping space. Like many stays before, the invitation was open to anyone wanting to share the experience with me. That night, I would be joined by “Old Reliable” Terry James and Paul Garbarini.

This would be Terry’s 11th stay and of course Paul’s first. Terry did not get here until very late into the night so it gave Paul and me ample time for quality chat. Some subjects of note were the tourism industry in Charleston; the freedman’s tag recently found on a plantation in the Charleston area; my interaction with the group Coming To The Table; and many more matters of interest. Terry’s arrival enhanced the opportunity to broaden the conversation. It was not long before the three of us were asleep in the tranquil environment, Terry again sleeping in the slave shackles.

Paul Garbarini and Terry James, Heyward Washington House

The following morning was met with haste. Paul’s invitation for the three of us to have coffee at a nearby establishment had to be declined because of a prior commitment that Terry and I made. We had to be in Cheraw, SC by 11:00 am to participate in a Civil War encampment at the Southern African American Heritage Center a trip that would take three hours. With that in mind, Terry’s usual routine of meticulously taking pictures had to be hastened. To the best of our abilities, we left the site just as we found it.

It was my desire to interact with descendants of those who were enslaved at the Heyward-Washington House. With the challenges that exist for conducting African American genealogical research, I should not have been surprised when I found none. I am often encouraged by followers of the Slave Dwelling Project to connect the places that I stay to people who were enslaved there. Despite not finding any descendants of the enslaved, I was encouraged by an email that I got a few days prior to the Heyward-Washington House stay.

The sender of the email reminded me that we both met at the national gathering of the group Coming To The Table and regretted that they could not be joining me for the stay as they had wished. They further reminded me that they were a descendant of one of the slave owners of the Heyward-Washington House. Moreover this person was more than willing to share additional information but I will let them be more forthcoming with that information in a manner with which they are comfortable.

The Heyward-Washington was no Mount Vernon but George Washington did sleep there. I did not find any descendents of those who were enslaved at the Heyward-Washington House but I did find a descendant of the enslaver. I also got to further my research into urban slavery. It is my hope that other opportunities like this are presented in the future.

It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.

George Washington

Reflections: Paul Garbarini

Paul Garbarini Speaks to Visitors, Heyward Washington House, Charleston, SC

Thank you, Joe, for creating the Slave Dwelling Project. The importance of your work was obvious to me the first time I heard of it. The slave dwellings in danger of neglect and loss need you, need all of us, to keep the memory of who lived there alive.

While this home to enslaved people is not in danger of loss, the clarity of Charleston’s slave dwellings is sometimes muddied by calling them by other names. Out buildings. Servant’s Quarters. Carriage house. Dependencies.

Servant quarters is not necessarily wrong. Some indentured servants almost certainly slept away from the main house. Carriage houses also housed the enslaved grooms and drivers charged with care of the tack and horses.

My favorite is “dependencies”. Who was dependent on whom?

In Charleston, from 1800 - 1850, the majority of the population was enslaved. Slave dwellings were everywhere. A few blocks away from here, according to the 1861 Charleston census, #33 Church St was inhabited by slaves and free blacks. #35 Church the same. In # 59, slaves lived there by themselves. #75, the same. I still need to confirm the houses and addresses because numbering changed. But the relative distance from here is the same. I do know that #20 Church was owned by tinsmith Robert Forbes and housed all but one of his slaves. The one slave was William and he lived with Forbes at #12 Tradd just around the corner.

I am a tour guide. I’ve studied and researched historic properties. Any house in Charleston which was here before 1865 could have been a slave dwelling at one time or another. It was probably built in part with slave labor.

The Akan people of Ghana use the Adinkra symbol of Sankofa. It means, “go back and get it.” or "It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten.”

Why am I here? For clarity. I’m here for clarity.

Paul GarbariniCharleston, SC

After our overnight stay, I was compelled to find out who really lived there and maybe track their descendants. Melanie Wilson, of the Charleston Museum, clarified the address and the name of one of the owners. A widow, Margaret Munroe, owned the property in the mid -1800’s. She died in 1847. Her estate carried on and ran it as a boarding house.

In the 1861 Charleston Census the occupants were listed as “slaves”. It was a common practice at the time for slave holders to rent property in the city for those slaves who were “hired out.” The owners would profit from the labor of skilled craftsmen and women and pay them a very small amount for their efforts.

In 1847, at Mrs. Munroe’s death, some of her property was sold including the following people.

Say their names out loud:

Peter			Mathias			Henry
Louisa			Martha			Margaret
Eve			Clarissa			Daniel
Clarence			Alfred			Sarah and two children

1

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 no longer employed with the National Trust but we both worked on matters of preservation in New Orleans. Last year, Jenifer contacted me with an idea that she had about me participating in the 74th Annual Holly Springs Pilgrimage Tour of Historic Homes which is an annual tour of the mansions in the town. Jenifer’s grand idea was to combine the pilgrimage with the Slave Dwelling Project and seek a funder that could help make it happen. Similar to the trip that I took to Missouri, the tentative date that we set for the trip to Mississippi was pending approval of the grant request. Like Missouri the proposal was approved through the state’s Humanities Council.

From the time that I tentatively put this event on my calendar, I was skeptical because the Mississippi history etched in my mind was not pleasant. Medger Evers, Emmitt Till, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner were all killed in the state of Mississippi in pursuit of their happiness. The movie Mississippi Burning as well as two books that I read recently Rising Tide by John M. Barry and The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson did not paint a good picture of the treatment of African Americans in the state of Mississippi. I knew that in order for me to carry on with this assignment I had to get past those atrocities by thinking of them as history, Hollywood and books based on past accounts.

Mississippi Industrial College

On Thursday, April 12, 2012, my first scheduled task was to conduct a lecture on the Slave Dwelling Project at Rust, a Historically Black College located in Holly Springs. This would not be a problem because I had spoken on this subject at many colleges and universities before. The group was small but they got the same lecture that a larger group would have gotten. Something on that campus really bothered me. The buildings that were once Mississippi Industrial College from 1905 – 1982 which gave rise to Rust College are all being neglected. It bothered me so much that I insisted on going back the next day to take photographs.

That evening included an open reception at Montrose, the home of the Holly Spring Garden Club. A diverse crowd of influential people of Holly Springs were there and were treated to a presentation from me about the Slave Dwelling Project. They were treated to a bonus when Rhonda K. Peairs, Documentary Projects Coordinator of the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation of the University of Mississippi in Oxford spoke to them.

Hugh Craft House Slave Quarters and Kitchen

My first stay was at the Hugh Craft House Slave Quarters and Kitchen which is owned by Jenifer Eggleston and her husband Chelius Carter. I would be alone in the quarters that night which had not occurred since my stay at Cliveden in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Additionally, I slept in a bed which had not been done since my stay at Pleasant Hill Plantation in Missouri. The quarters was well researched which provided lots of information that could be used for its interpretation the next day. On three levels it included a basement which included a room for smoking meat; the first level included the kitchen and two separate living spaces; the third level was living space. Research revealed that Hugh Craft owned 9 slaves who serviced the current house that was built on the property in 1851.

Behind the Big House Tour

The next day the people participating in the pilgrimage started to show up for their tour of the dwelling. This was interesting because some people showed up thinking that they were going into the main house which was not the case. Early in the process, a few people - and I stress a few - excused themselves once they found out the subject matter was about slaves who occupied the dwellings behind the big house. Maybe the title “Behind the Big Tour” was a little misleading. Despite that most of the people showed up because of what the title implied and listened intently throughout the presentation and asked meaningful questions afterwards and expressed their appreciation that Holly Springs had taken such a bold step. I as well as my hosts was most impressed by all the African Americans that showed up for the tour. They especially expressed their appreciation for adding this element to the pilgrimage. The only one spirited debate came when one Caucasian female couldn’t accept that chattel slavery was a bad thing.

Rowan Oaks

Dinner that night included a bonus. Nearby Oxford, Mississippi was our destination. While there I visited Rowan Oak, also known as William Faulkner House. It is a primitive Greek Revival house built in the 1840s by Robert Sheegog. Faulkner purchased the house when it was in disrepair in the 1930s and did many of the renovations himself and lived there until 1962. The bonus was the fact that there is an intact slave dwelling on the property, moreover I got an invitation to spend a night there which will certainly happen in the future. No disrespect to Mr. Faulkner, but unfortunately, while conducting my perfunctory research on Rowan Oak, I have not yet come across any information that mentions the intact slave dwelling, which further justifies this project.

Burton Place

My second night stay would be at the slave dwelling located at Burton Place. The brick dwelling was behind the big house and to the right. It included a kitchen and two separate living spaces all on one level. For the second consecutive night, I slept in the dwelling alone and in a nice comfortable bed in the kitchen. I found the space to be over adorned knowing that anything that was not necessary for cooking would not be located in that space. Unlike the previous day, I was not provided with a lot of researched information on the past inhabitants of that space.

Burton Place, Holly Springs, MS

This worked in my favor because I could draw on all the knowledge that I gained by sleeping in 33 other slave dwellings prior to this one. There was one interpretive sign inside the dwelling that was quite telling, from the 1850 census, it listed eight slaves by gender and age only. I found it interesting that in 1850 they would only have a first name but even that was not put on a census form. That could be very frustrating for someone doing genealogical research.

The 1860 census revealed that the owner, Mary Malvina Shields obtained seventy-two additional slaves for a total of eighty. This increase in the number of slaves was an indication that she was a planter and was taking advantage of the cotton growing opportunities that existed. Throughout the day, a steady flow of people came through the dwelling to hear the interpretive presentation that I gave. Unlike the previous day, the participants had access to the mansion which worked out well because they all got a complete story. As time was winding down, I was feeling a bit dejected because no African Americans had come to the slave dwelling or the big house for that matter. Then it happened. One group of about twenty African Americans came to hear the presentation. The group listened intently and asked lots of questions after the presentation. The group leaders were local but the bulk of the group was from Ohio. The leaders stated that up until this point they never felt welcome at the pilgrimage and were thrilled that this year the Behind the Big House Tour was offered.

Prior to leaving Holly Spring, my host took me on a windshield tour of the other extant former slave dwellings. We looked for the telltale signs for slave dwellings, location, chimneys, windows, etc. For a relatively small town, I was surprised by the number that still exists. Some of the buildings have evolved into storage spaces, garages, pool houses or guest houses and some are just deteriorating.

Reflections on Holley Springs

The success of participating in the Holly Springs Pilgrimage made me think about other established house tours and pilgrimages. Years ago I would volunteer for the Preservation Society of Charleston, SC tour of homes. As I recall, all of the focus was on the mansions and not the outbuildings. For Holly Springs this was their 74th Annual Holly Springs Pilgrimage Tour of Historic Homes, I know that there are several other well established tour of historic homes in urban areas. Several of those homes in the north and south were built while slavery existed in those areas, therefore they may have outbuildings where slaves once lived. Additionally, one should not dismiss the possibility that they may have lived in the attics or basements of mansions. I now wonder how many other established house tours are willing to take the bold step that Holly Springs did and tell the stories of the slaves that lived in the outbuildings associated with the big house.

Since starting the Slave Dwelling Project in 2010, I have had several revelations. In seeking extant former slave dwellings sometimes they are hidden in plain view especially when we factor in urban slavery. Some property owners may own some of these structures and not know their history. Some may know the history but for various reasons choose not to make it known to others. I am often asked how many extant slave dwellings still exist. I respond that factoring in urban slavery makes placing a number on those dwellings difficult. It could be less of a challenge to answer that question if we had more places like Holly Springs, Mississippi that are willing to tell the whole story of their built environment.

Jenifer Eggleston's Reflections

When I first moved to Holly Springs, Mississippi in the fall of 2008, my husband who maintains a private practice in historic restoration gave me the cook’s tour of the town with its impressive collection of historic structures from several time periods. While Holly Springs has an inarguably inspiring architectural inventory, what spoke to me was the considerable number of buildings directly related to slavery. Many towns had lost much if not all of their slave-related structures but Holly Springs had maintained many of these rare surviving buildings.

That so many of Holly Springs’ vital, tangible links to the legacy of slavery had survived is primarily owed to their remaining in continuous use. Their original form had often obscured making it difficult to recognize them for their historic intent and value. In many cases, the original purpose of these culturally significant buildings was either forgotten, due to the passing of living memory or by design or a combination of both. Either way, it was clear that a significant part of the historic narrative was missing. While a number of the silent witnesses – the structures directly related to the slaves’ accommodations were extant--the stories of the people who lived and used these buildings was largely being forgotten. The personal histories of the “Big Houses” had been preserved but what of those personal lives “Behind the Big House?”

Doing what one does in down moments I was searching Facebook one night and stumbled across a former colleague and friend, Joseph McGill’s page. That’s when I learned of his inspiring work with the Slave Dwelling Project and thus began a conversation about how Holly Springs could highlight and interpret these rare surviving buildings by bringing Joseph to our community during our annual Pilgrimage Tour of Historic Homes. Thanks to his support of the idea and some last minute grant writing for a Mississippi Humanities Council grant this idea came alive last week from April 12th through 15th.

Joseph McGill for his part, spent an evening in two of the more intact slaves’ quarters and remained on site the following days to give visitors a first-hand interpretation of what life might have been like “Behind the Big House”. Most of our visitors were on the Pilgrimage tour and this was for many an unexpected view into another side of history, a much-needed addition of a missing historic narrative. Also, many came out just for the “Behind the Big House” tour, which was extremely encouraging for the continuation and development of this program.

Our local historic preservation nonprofit, Preserve Marshall County & Holly Springs, Inc. hopes to continue this initiative with a goal of not only researching but also documenting and advocating for the preservation of these irreplaceable historic resources. We will be sure to share our future work on this project with Joseph and look forward to hosting Joseph and the Slave Dwelling Project in the future.

Finding it difficult to end this posting I thought it would be best to share what two attendees at our Welcome Reception felt as reported by our local newspaper, The South Reporter. Local community supporter and tourism board chairman, Ralph Howard, “the dialogue is long overdue . . .and will help with the economy and tourism in the city” and artist, Randy Hayes ,“I just told him that I thought what he is doing is art . . . I thought the gathering more truly represented Holly Springs than any social event I can remember.”