Ideas worth spreading

My quest to sleep in every former slave dwelling in the US

10,262 views | Joseph McGill • TEDxRapidCity

Behind the "big house" in pre-Civil War America, there was often another house, smaller, rougher, and filled with chattel slaves, people who lived and died as another person's property. It's a large piece of American history, but it's too often overlooked or even hidden. How can modern people feel the weight of this history? Joseph McGill, founder of the Slave Dwelling Project, has a direct suggestion: Spend a night where slaves once lived. "Sleeping in these places, we get the opportunity to make these connections to our past," he says. "They're telling the whole story."

Behind the "big house" in pre-Civil War America, there was often another house, smaller, rougher, and filled with chattel slaves, people who lived and died as another person's property. It's a large piece of American history, but it's too often overlooked or even hidden. How can modern people feel the weight of this history? Joseph McGill, founder of the Slave Dwelling Project, has a direct suggestion: Spend a night where slaves once lived. "Sleeping in these places, we get the opportunity to make these connections to our past," he says. "They're telling the whole story."

This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxRapidCity, an independent event.

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About the speaker

Joseph McGill

Mr. Joseph McGill, Jr. is a history consultant for Magnolia Plantation in Charleston, SC and the founder of The Slave Dwelling Project, Inc. Sleeping in extant slave dwellings, this project has brought much needed attention to these often neglected structures that are vitally important to the American built environment. Prior to his current position, Mr. McGill was a field officer for the National Trust for Historic Preservation working to revitalize the Sweet Auburn commercial district in Atlanta, GA and to develop a management plan for Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area. Mr. McGill also served as the Executive Director of the African American Museum in Cedar Rapids, IA, and is the former Director of History and Culture at Penn Center, St. Helena Island, SC. Mr. McGill is the founder of Company "I" 54th Massachusetts Reenactment Regiment in Charleston, South Carolina. He is also a member of the South Carolina Humanities Council Speakers Bureau and appears in the book Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz.

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This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxRapidCity, an independent event.

Read more about TEDx.