WELCOME
The 7th national Slave Dwelling Project Conference took place September 8–10, 2022 in Charleston, SC, in collaboration with the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program and the Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World Program (CLAW) at the College of Charleston. The theme, The Stono Rebellion and the Atlantic Word, offered an in-depth look at the 1739 rebellion by enslaved African Americans along the Stono River in South Carolina and elsewhere in the LowCountry. Conference events took place at the Stern Center on the campus of the College of Charleston. Conference-associated activities also occurred on key sites related to the Stono Rebellion, with additional opportunities for self-guided activities in and around the Charleston area. The 7th Slave Dwelling Project Conference is made possible through major funding by The 1772 Foundation.
Banner image: Sunrise over a former rice field at Caw Caw County Park (photo by Shawn Halifax) with a 1711 map of Charleston, South Carolina overlaid.
CONFERENCE DETAILS
The Stono Rebellion, a transformative event in the history of enslavement in the Americas, tells a powerful story of resistance and resilience. In September 1739, against near-impossible odds, a group of enslaved South Carolinians south of Charleston armed themselves and set out to make their way to freedom in Spanish Florida. This early-American story of rebellion, resistance, and resilience powerfully impacted the 18th- and 19th-century Atlantic world, and continues to wield power today as we seek to unearth the full story of African-American resistance to enslavement, and to celebrate the extraordinary legacy of African-American resilience.
The 2022 Slave Dwelling Conference, The Stono Rebellion and the Atlantic World, examined not only the 1739 rebellion but also its lasting impact—one that continues to resonate throughout the world today in the ongoing fight for racial and social justice.
With engaging keynote addresses by Dr. Edda Fields-Black, author of the forthcoming ‘Combee’: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom during the Civil War, and Dr. Hilary Green of Davidson College (she previously worked at the University of Alabama), author of Educational Reconstruction: African American Schools in the Urban South, 1865-1890, as well as many other notable scholars and historians, the 7th annual SDP Conference offered the opportunity to participate in over 20 informative and enlightening sessions in Charleston, SC, with virtual conference attendance options as well. Additionally most sessions are available to registered participants. Please contact us if you need a link.
Please click here to view the program from the conference.
EXTRA OPPORTUNITIES
THE STONO REBELLION TRAIL with Joseph McGill of SDP and Shawn Halifax of NTHP. This guided shuttle tour of the key sites related to the Stono Rebellion was a huge success! The tour was approximately 6 hours and ended at Caw Caw Interpretive Site (the site of the Stono Rebellion) and included lunch from acclaimed Gullah chef, BJ Dennis and a demonstration from the Fort Mose Historical Society and Volunteer Militia on the 283rd anniversary of the Stono Rebellion.
CAW CAW CAMPFIRE CONVERSATION with Joseph McGill and Friends. Guests joined Joseph McGill of SDP on the 283rd anniversary of the Stono Rebellion at Caw Caw Interpretive Center (site of the Stono Rebellion) as he discussed the details surrounding the Stono Rebellion. Dinner was served on site in the Gullah tradition by acclaimed chef, BJ Dennis.
WHAT WAS STONO
What Was Stono is a brief historical pamphlet prepared by historian Peter H. Wood (Duke University) and published with support from the National Park Service and The 1772 Foundation, as part of the seventh national conference of the Slave Dwelling Project. Multiple copies of this booklet are available to classes, organizations, and public history sites. For information, contact CLAW (Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World Program) at the College of Charleston, Dr. Sandra Slater, Director: slaters@cofc.edu. This booklet will be available online as a Digital History Initiative through CLAW at the College of Charleston: https://claw.cofc.edu/digital-initiatives.
THE STONO REBELLION TRAIL
This pamphlet was written by Shawn Halifax to accompany The Stono Rebellion Trail as part of the 7th Slave Dwelling Project Conference: the Stono Rebellion and the Atlantic World. The story of the largest uprising of enslaved people in British North America has largely been submerged since it happened on September 9, 1739. This 20+ mile trail marks what historians believe was the Freedom Seeker’s route to Florida, though there remain unknowns. The Rebellion has been described as unsuccessful because word of its failure was critical to alleviating white fear and continued Black oppression. However, evidence suggests that some might have found freedom in Florida. Measured individually, was any release from bondage, even death, success?
PRESS
- Editorial: Stono Rebellion isn’t a happy part of SC history, but it’s worth remembering
- Rebellion linked early SC with tensions in Florida and larger world, by Robert Behre
- Bloody Slave Revolt Topic of Slave Dwelling Project Conference, by Herb Frazier
- Scholars to Headline Stono Rebellion Conference, by Herb Frazier
- The College of Charleston to host conference on the Stono Rebellion, CofC Today
Major funding for the conference has been generously provided by
The 2022 Slave Dwelling Project Conference is the 7th National Conference. Previous Conferences include the following:
- Savannah, Georgia Preserving Sacred Places (2014)
- North Charleston, South Carolina A History Denied: Preserving Tangible Evidences of Slave Dwellings (2015)
- Columbia, South Carolina Using Extant Slave Dwellings to Change the Narrative (2016)
- Charlottesville, Virginia (2017)
- Middle Tennessee State University Slavery, Resistance, and Community (2018)
- Virtual held with Clemson University Changing Narratives in Changing Times (2021)