Save the Date: Sept 8-10, 2022

2022 Slave Dwelling Project Conference: The Stono Rebellion and the Atlantic World will take place in Charleston, South Carolina.

2022 Slave Dwelling Project Conference: The Stono Rebellion and the Atlantic World
September 8–10, 2022 in Charleston, SC
Details will be announced soon

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. As they marched through the countryside, they were confronted by an armed white militia and engaged in bloody combat. Many of the rebels were murdered; others faced execution after the fighting or were re-enslaved. Only a handful survived into freedom. In its immediate aftermath, the 1739 Stono Rebellion led to restrictive slave codes in South Carolina, which quickly spread throughout the American South. At the same time, word of the courageous rebellion spread throughout the Atlantic world, inspiring multiple acts of defiance.

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 seeks to examine not only the 1739 rebellion but also its remarkable legacy—one that continues to resonate throughout the world today in the ongoing fight for racial justice.

The 2022 Slave Dwelling Project Conference will take place September 8-10, 2022, at the College of Charleston in Charleston, SC. Concurrent with The Stono Legacy Project, a month-long commemoration of the 1739 Stono Rebellion, this 7th national SDP conference will take place in a hybrid format, with in-person activities in and around Charleston as well as a number of live-streamed virtual events. Conference details will be announced soon. Please be sure you are on our email list.

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)