For the past 12 years, Joseph McGill has been spending nights in spaces across the United States where enslaved people built and dwelled. The purpose of these sleepovers is to honor the enslaved Ancestors. The project has evolved into ensuring that historic sites interpret a narrative that is inclusive of all people who inhabited the site. Through campfire conversations, living history, Zoom calls, and conferences, the Slave Dwelling Project engages a racial and geographically diverse audience.
Join Joseph at the April Gallier Gathering as he chronicles his sleepovers at various states throughout the US, with special emphasis on his sleepovers at Oakley, Evergreen and Magnolia Plantations in Louisiana.
Mr. Joseph McGill, Jr., is the founder of the Slave Dwelling Project and a history consultant for Magnolia Plantation in Charleston, SC. By arranging for people to sleep in extant slave dwellings, the Slave Dwelling Project has brought much needed attention to these often neglected structures that are vitally important to the American built environment. As of the beginning of 2018, Mr. McGill has conducted over 250 overnights in approximately 100 different sites in 19 states and the District of Columbia. He has interacted with the descendants of both the enslaved communities and of the enslavers associated with historic plantations. He speaks with school children and college students, with historical societies, community groups, and members of the general public.
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 the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area.
Mr. McGill is a native of Kingstree, South Carolina. Upon graduating from high school, he enlisted in the United States Air Force. While in the Air Force, Mr. McGill served as Security Policeman in England, Washington State and Germany. Mr. McGill holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Professional English from South Carolina State University, Orangeburg, South Carolina. He is married to the former Vilarin Mozee, and they have one daughter, Jocelyn Mozee McGill.
This event is made possible by funding from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. Funding for 2021 Rebirth grants has been administered by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities (LEH) and provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) and the NEH Sustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan (SHARP) initiative. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.