Interpreting The Story Of Slavery Through Antebellum Structures
Preserving the built environment that tells the antebellum history of African-Americans is not always easy. Many structures were not built to last. But buildings that tell this important story do exist today. They come in many forms and have been repurposed for many things.
Research, archaeology, and genealogy help us fill the gaps when we lack a full set of historic structures to study. These resources help us interpret the history of those who were once enslaved in this nation.
For the past five years, the focus of the Slave Dwelling Project has been to find extant slave dwellings throughout the United States and utilize the attention garnered by spending nights in them to advocate for the preservation, interpretation, and maintenance of these historic structures.
Along the way, I have also received offers to spend nights in places that did not fit the mold of slave dwellings but could be just as powerful in interpreting the history of those who were once enslaved in this nation.
These are a few stories from my recent excursions.
photo by: jprime84, Flickr
The Old Jail in Charleston, South Carolina.
The Old Charleston Jail
The desire to spend time in the Old Charleston Jail came as a result of my time as a Civil War reenactor in the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, one of the first official African-American units in the Union Army. Some of the men from this unit were imprisoned at the Old Charleston Jail after they were captured during the Assault on Fort Wagner, the same battle that was portrayed in the Hollywood movie Glory, starring Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington, and Matthew Broderick.
photo by: Joseph McGill
Montpelier Slave Cabin
I had the pleasure of participating in a field session at Montpelier in which I helped rebuild a historic slave cabin. That recreated structure now sits on the footprint of the original. This could not have been accomplished without the archaeological work done at the site. I returned to the site during the week that descendants of the enslaved were conducting an archaeological dig there.
Historic Sites: A Different Kind Of History Lesson At Belle Grove Plantation
How a stay at at Belle Grove with the Slave Dwelling Project helped participants confront a difficult chapter in American history.
Local Preservationists: A New Perspective on the Octagon House
National Trust staffer Sarah Heffern spends a night with The Slave Dwelling Project at the Octagon House in Washington, D.C.
photo by: Joseph McGill
Hampton Plantation
Hampton Plantation in Charleston County, South Carolina, is in the process of conducting an archaeological dig at the site of what is believed to be a former slave cabin. At one stage in the process, I was allowed to join the archaeologists and other staff members in the excavation. Later we pitched tents for a sleepover at the dig site. Hampton Plantation will use the evidence of this dig to further interpret the stories of those who were enslaved there.
photo by: Travis, Flickr
The Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon
My coworker Edwin Breeden has been conducting research at the Old Exchange Building and Provost Dungeon in Charleston, South Carolina. Owned by the Daughters of the American Revolution, the building has an interesting African-American history to tell. From the making of bricks to build the structure to being held there as prisoners and being auctioned to the highest bidder, the African-American history associated with this Charleston landmark is abundant, yet, amazingly, not included in its day-to-day interpretation. Thankfully, Edwin’s research into the African-American involvement with the site will change that.
In the five years that I have been conducting this project, it is the history of the enslaved that keeps me focused. Wherever slave dwellings are not extant, the research, genealogy and archaeology can always help me find ways to make the necessary connection to the ancestors.
Learn more about the Slave Dwelling Project.
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