Historic preservationist and Civil War reenactor Joseph McGill Jr. has logged more than 200 nights sleeping in slave dwellings at historic sites in twenty-five states and the District of Columbia. In this enlightening personal account, he tells the story of his groundbreaking Slave Dwelling project. His quest to share the experience of the enslaved took him throughout the South, but also the North and the West, where people are often surprised to learn that such structures exist.
With journalist Herb Frazier, McGill reveals the fascinating history behind these sites and sheds light on larger issues of race in America.
Joseph McGill Jr., of Ladson, S.C., is founder of the Slave Dwelling Project. He was previously a field officer for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He is the former executive director of the African American Museum in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and the former director of history and culture at Penn Center, St. Helena Island, South Carolina.
Herb Frazier is a Charleston S.C.-based writer. He is senior projects editor at the Charleston City Paper. Frazier has edited or reported for five daily newspapers in the South. He is the author of Behind God’s Back: Gullah Memories.
Cynthia Evans is Research Director of American Ancestors’ 10 Million Names project, a collaborative project dedicated to recovering the names of the estimated 10 million men, women, and children of African descent who were enslaved in pre- and post-colonial American. She is a researcher, historian, and genealogist with more than ten years of experience in African American history and research and five years of experience managing a genealogy center in Austin, TX..
