Members of the group My Brother’s Keeper in front of the slave cabin at Hopsewee Plantation in Georgetown County, SC
The Slave Dwelling Project, whose mission is to identify and assist property owners, government agencies and organizations to preserve extant slave dwellings, is proud to announce that it received a $2000.00 planning grant from The Humanities CouncilSC. The grant will support initial work on the project titled: If These Walls Could Talk.
If These Walls Could Talk will make extant slave dwellings relevant by getting young students involved in their preservation and interpretation. This will be done by having these students and their chaperones spend one night in a slave dwelling with the project’s founder, Joseph McGill. Immediately before or after the experience the students will address a public audience about the importance of preserving, maintaining and interpreting slave dwellings. They will then write about the experience which will be incorporated into a blog. All of the experiences will be audio and visually recorded and a documentary will be produced which will debut at a public program that will be highlighted by performing artist Natalie Daise’s performance of “Becoming Harriet Tubman.”
Since its inception in 2010, the Slave Dwelling Project, founded in the state of South Carolina, has been highly successful in raising awareness about the necessity to preserve, interpret, maintain and sustain extant slave dwellings throughout the United States.
If These Walls Could Talk will help take the project to another level by engaging school districts, libraries, colleges, universities, museums and preservation organizations that exist wherever these extant slave dwellings are located throughout the state of South Carolina. Additional fundraising will be necessary to hire a qualified film maker who can devote the time to documenting each slave dwelling sleepover where youths are involved and create a quality documentary that is worthy of honoring those who were enslaved in those dwellings. You can find out more about the Slave Dwelling Project on its website at: www.slavedwellingproject.org
Enjoyed having you and the others at Hopsewee! Looking forward to the next time!
Raejean, Thank you for all of the support that you and Frank have given the Slave Dwelling Project. The third stay at Hopsewee Plantation was rewarding for all especially the youths who participated. I am looking forward to the next stay.
Joe, Raejean, Frank, Thanks for sharing your space with me. I valued my experience at Hopsewee more than you will ever know. Marion
Marion, It was a pleasure sharing the space at Hopsewee Plantation with you, Kyle, the young men and their chaperones from My Brother’s Keepers. I am certain that there can be another stay in our future. The Slave Dwelling Project thanks you for becoming one of the first lifetime members of the organizations.
The Slave Dwelling Project provides participants, Guests and Plantation Owners an opportunity to reflect over the historical significance of speaking about past times and the direction for future plans. We now must retell the story from a new and different point of view and consider the thoughts, of former enslaved people who did not have a collective voice in which to speak. We must now listen to a next generation of family members who are descendants and rely upon their Oral History and personal perspective provided from memories and stories passed down from generation to generation. Jerry Harper
Jerry, Thank you for your leadership of the group My Brother’s Keeper. I am certain that the young men who stayed in the cabin at Hopsewee Plantation gained a lot of knowledge about our enslaved ancestors. I am looking forward to receiving their essays so that they may accompany the upcoming blog about the stay.
You are welcome! We are still awaiting the deadline of 31 March 2014. Jerry