For unknown reasons, the Slave Dwelling Project has driven me to love archaeologists. Maybe it’s their scientific approach to proving the existence of the enslaved Ancestors, or maybe it’s the way they eliminate the excuse for historic sites not to interpret slavery because they don’t have extant slave dwellings. Archaeologists provide that evidence historic sites need to change their narrative. Archaeologists do this by going beneath the earth to find that evidence. Jessica Fleming Crawford is an Archaeologist & Southeast Regional Director at The Archaeological Conservancy. In 2016, I met Jessica when she spent a night with me and others on a replica ship at Charlestown Landing in Charleston, SC. A mutual friend and archaeologist, Jon Marcoux made that sleepover happen.

It was at that sleepover that I expressed to Jessica my desire to spend the night at any antebellum site in Natchez, Mississippi. All my efforts to conduct a sleepover in Natchez up until that point proved fruitless. No one or entity there was buying what the Slave Dwelling Project was selling, yet I knew that Natchez was a city benefitting handsomely from interpreting its antebellum history, a history that was void of the true contributions of the enslaved. Jessica vowed that she could make a sleepover in Natchez happen. Like other similar promises, I filed it away as if it was not going to happen. My thought was, what could she do that I had not already done? Yes, I was skeptical of her ability to pull this off.

Jessica also told me about Prospect Hill. The Archaeological Conservancy had acquired it with the intent of its restoration. The story of slavery and freedom prior to 1865 played itself out at this site. You can learn more about that in this article. The actions at Prospect Hill was the source for a book titled Mississippi in Africa. Jessica had invested a lot of sweat equity into ensuring that Prospect Hill remain on the landscape.

It is my desire to spend nights in as many extant slave dwellings as possible. So, my goal for going to Natchez, Mississippi was to spend a night at Prospect Hill. The amazing Jessica Crawford made it more than that. She booked me into the Concord Quarters, former slave quarters which is now a bed and breakfast owned by an African American couple, therefore I spent a night in a slave dwelling by default. Two, for the price of one. How special is that? This was one of those rare cases where the big house was no longer on the landscape but the dwelling of the enslaved remained. 

My first order of business was to give a lecture about the Slave Dwelling Project at Longwood Mansion. This was my second visit to the mansion, but a special tour took us into places where the normal visitors do not have access. Fingerprints of the enslaved were found in several bricks in the building. One has to wonder what happened to the enslaved men who were working on the building when the Civil War started. Were they rented out to the Confederate Army to build forts, to be personal servants to officers, dig graves or care for horses? Or did they get an opportunity to be one of the 200,000 men to serve the Union Army and Navy during the Civil War?

The slave quarters was three levels high with relatively large compartments for the enslaved families. Parts of the dwelling was used for several things including restrooms. There is a lot of floor space in the building and great potential for a sleepover.

The lecture was given to a diverse audience of about 50 people. This is important because most of the African Americans in the audience were visiting Longwood Mansion for the first time bolstering my theory that visiting sites of enslavement is not on a short list of places visited by African Americans. I got a verbal invitation to come back to Longwood Mansion for a sleepover. It is my hope that Longwood Mansion will open a dialogue with the African American participants who are willing to participate in the national effort to get more historic sites to engage the descendants of those who were enslaved.

My second day in Natchez included a tour of the city for Jessica and me which was conducted by Jeremy Houston, Director at Miss Lou Heritage Group and Tours. Like many cities in Mississippi, Natchez was not immune to violent activities that resulted in death during the modern Civil Rights Movement.

I was most impressed on the tour by our visit to the Forks of the Road Slave Market. Being a current employee of the Old Slave Mart Museum in Charleston South Carolina, I noticed that its history of buying and selling enslaved people during that period in our history pales in comparison to what occurred at the Forks in the Road.

The drive to Prospect Hill from Natchez was like someone wanted the place not to be found. I was only thankful that I was making this trip during daylight hours. Prospect Hill is a restoration in progress. A new roof on the building ensures the demolition by neglect has been mitigated. One had to navigate purposely to avoid stepping in places in the floor that could result in falling through to the ground. Despite that, it was there that about twenty people would sleep. This would not be a first, that I slept in a construction site, Brentsville Jail and Menokin fit that category.

Most of the participants were Caucasian and local. One participant travelled all the way from California for the experience. Kenetha Lanee travelled all the way from New Orleans, Louisiana. I thought I lost her after her first sleepover encounter because of her contribution to the blog, but this would be Kenetha’s fifth sleepover and she brought a friend.

The campfire conversation touched on everything from:
• Descending from enslavers
• Restoration
• Natchez, Mississippi
• Good vs. bad slave owners
• Confederate monuments

The next day activities gave me an opportunity to marvel at the magnitude of Jessica’s work. If she had not taken interest in Prospect Hill, what would be its current condition? And why did our paths cross? Was it because she is an archaeologist, preservationist, historian or a combination of all those things. Or maybe it’s because she likes an accurate and inclusive history like I do. Whatever the reason, the fact is that we were together in this place with others and she made it happen.

This year, the Concord Quarters will be on the Natchez Pilgrimage. I consider that progress. I just hope that it will not be one and done. Natchez, the narrative is changing. You have a great stock of extant slave dwellings. Will you be part of the problem or part of the solution?

SLAVE DWELLING PROJECT
Prospect Hill Plantation
Jefferson County, Mississippi
May 11-12, 2018

Steve Ross
Rancho Mirage, CA
May 20, 2018

When I saw Jessica Crawford’s post on Facebook that the slave dwelling project was coming to Prospect Hill I did some homework. I looked at the website and knew I had to go. I am a direct descendant of Captain Isaac Ross, the founder of Prospect Hill Plantation.

The event was a sleepover, one of a series that Joe McGill has done around the country—sleeping, when possible, in actual slave dwellings. I had no idea what to expect from this event or how I would feel about it once I headed home. Realizing somewhat late in life that I am descended from people who owned other people is a painful heritage to contemplate. As much as I know I had nothing to do with what my ancestors did more than 200 years ago, there is still a shame that bleeds through the generations. An inability to reconcile my 21st-century value and view of the world as they grind against those of my Antebellum ancestors. There is a discomfort that doesn’t go away.

The event at Prospect Hill gave me a chance to talk about that a bit. In California, where I live, the subject of slavery doesn’t come up much. And I don’t bring it up. But I’m filled with mixed emotions. Pride in my ancestors, emigrating from South Carolina to the Mississippi Territory in 1808, for seeking opportunity beyond the frontier of the fledgling country against great odds. And shame that their subsequent fortunes were built from the labor of enslaved people. The setting that was created by Joe and others around the campfire that night at Prospect Hill gave me a chance to express my true feelings about my heritage without fear (I was pretty sure) of being judged. There was a sense of relief just to be heard on a very difficult subject. And it was a profound moment especially on this land, at this place.

Deep gratitude to Joe McGill and Jessica Crawford for their actions to bring this event to reality.

Paul D. Sullivan
Attorney at Law

I enjoyed spending time with others who appreciate the good, the bad and the ugly in our shared history. I get tired of people talking about “Black History” and “Black History Museums” as if there were two separate histories lived by our mutual ancestors. We were all in it together, folks, and we are still in it together. I like to enjoy my own march through history by learning what I can about what came before my times. The sleepover was tremendous.

Sarah Freeman

My first thoughts on sleeping at the Prospect Hill plantation were about the age of the house. I am especially fond of old homes and the idea of being in one which is in the state of disrepair and restoration which Prospect Hill is, excited me. I will admit to having very little knowledge of the house before arriving and making the connection to Mississippi in Africa. Once I made that connection, the history of the people who built the house and their story was powerful for me.

Upon arriving, I was excited at the adventure we had signed up to be a part of. The house is history itself, particularly in its current state. Walking around a bit, the concept of what we were participating in began to sink in. The very isolated location of plantation homes in the area always makes me think of how removed from the world we know now the inhabitants of these homes’ lives were. Thoughts of their dependence on slaves to live in that way started creeping into my mind. The pampered and luxurious lifestyle they created in these remote places depended on others to do the labor. Thoughts of our ancestors owning slaves made me feel some guilt when interacting with the African Americans in the group, being that we were there to bring light to that very set of circumstances.

After settling ourselves in the evening’s discussion began and it was very open, enlightening and interesting. To have a conversation that isn’t full of anger about race with African Americans is helpful for understanding why people have for ages felt the need to enslave people and how unlike other slave cultures the American one was. Joseph was very helpful when we were discussing aspects of our family history. His open and engaging way of communicating in a very straightforward way brings to light the racism we are surrounded by but in a way which is easy, no blame, just the simple fact that this is the history of this country. My ancestors owned slaves. Living in Mississippi I am surrounded by racists who would be proud to show off any proof of their ancestors owning slaves. I’m always surprised at how many openly racist people I come across. While it has always just been a bit of background to the family history, moving here where racism is very visible and people are very open about their thoughts of being better than people simply because of their skin makes me bristle to think of the family history. Being able to communicate that to someone so open to listening and accepting that that’s just a part of our history and that we have no impact on what our ancestors did was quite a unique experience.

Overall, the experience was one I am glad to have had. Sleeping in a historic home of this caliber, untouched by modern life, was thrilling. The conversation between people of a wide variety of backgrounds was enlightening, eye-opening, interesting and healing as well. I feel as if we’ve connected with several of the people who were a part of the experience and I look forward to getting to know several of them better over time. I also look forward to participating in other Slave Dwelling Project events as well as Prospect Hill events.

Jessica Fleming Crawford

When I first learned about Joe McGill and The Slave Dwelling Project, I knew I wanted to have a sleepover at Prospect Hill Plantation. Prospect Hill, located in southwest Mississippi, belongs to The Archaeological Conservancy, a non-profit organization that preserves archaeological sites by acquiring title to them. I work for this organization as their Southeast Regional Director, and we preserve these sites for research and educational purposes. Generally, that means, we make them available to professional archaeologists to conduct research. Prospect Hill was established in the early 1800’s, so it’s an excellent place to conduct research in the field of plantation archaeology. That is pretty much the extent to which I thought Prospect Hill would be used, that is until I became involved with The Slave Dwelling Project. I became a member of The Slave Dwelling Project and took part in my first sleepover at Charles Towne Landing in 2016. It was then that I learned exactly what Joe means when he says historic sites are excellent classrooms. Like any archaeologist, I understand and appreciate the power of “places.” The power of places to educate, enlighten, touch and bring people together has never been more clearly demonstrated to me than the weekend Joe visited Prospect Hill and the nearby Natchez, Mississippi area.

In addition to the sleepover at Prospect Hill which is about 40 minutes from Natchez, Joe also gave presentations in Natchez at Longwood, a famous octagon shaped house owned by the Pilgrimage Garden Club and at Concord Quarters Bed and Breakfast, a recently restored circa 1820 slave quarters that belongs to my friends, Deborah and Gregory Cosey. In between all of that, Joe visited Melrose, another antebellum mansion owned by the National Park Service and we enjoyed a tour of historic Natchez, including the Forks of the Road Slave Market, with Jeremy Houston of Miss Lou Heritage Group Tours.

On Thursday, we were treated to a special tour of Longwood by house curator and historian, James Wade. Work on Longwood was halted at the outbreak of the Civil War and as a result, most of it was never finished. The house offers a rare look at the beautiful craftsmanship of the houses of the wealthy and the skill of those who built them. Within minutes of entering the house, Joe found fingerprints on bricks. James Wade was delighted, and I feel sure those fingerprints will get special recognition from now on. While we were there, James also shared with us his hope that the slave quarters at Longwood, which now houses the public restrooms, will one day also interpret slavery at Longwood. That evening, the Pilgrimage Garden Club provided a delicious gumbo dinner before Joe’s presentation, and it was well attended. I heard several local African Americans say it was their first time ever to visit the house. It was Joe who got them there and as he spoke to them of all the slave dwellings he’d slept in, I could see how moved they were. I’ll be honest, as a white woman, I was interested in why they had never visited and how they felt about the antebellum homes in their city. One can’t help but be awed by the size and beauty of Longwood, with all the exposed beams and intricate details. They were especially moved by the fingerprints. I don’t know why they’d never visited before, but I believe they are glad they have now. I think they see that place in a different light now.

On Friday we visited some of the significant sites of the African American neighborhoods of Natchez with a young man who has taken it upon himself to showcase the contributions and sacrifices of the African American community of Natchez from Antebellum times, through the Civil Rights Era. Jeremy Houston and his team at Miss Lou Heritage Group Tours are adding a whole new chapter to the standard history people get when they visit Natchez. While at Forks of the Road, one of the largest slave markets in the South, Jeremy took on the characters of the slave dealers as he explained how people would come in and “shop” for humans and how human chattel was greased and fed to look healthier and more appealing and backs were exposed to make sure someone had no scars, which was an indication of being difficult. As we walked around the site, he carried shackles and chains. It is one thing to read about a slave market, but it is quite another to stand on one with descendants of enslaved people as chains rattle in the background. I will never forget it, the power of that place.

Friday night was the sleepover at Prospect Hill. We ate a bar-b-que dinner in the yard and about 35 people were there for dinner and conversation around the fire. It cooled off as the sun went down and became a beautiful night. Technically, there are no extant slave dwellings at Prospect Hill, only the main house and a barn are still standing, but since it’s an archaeological preserve, we see it differently. The dwellings are there, they just aren’t above the ground. Joe began conversation by asking everyone to introduce themselves and briefly state why they came. Some of the participants I already knew, but some I hadn’t met. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was a nice, diverse group, with a friend of mine who is also an archaeologist sharing things she’d learned in her research and three school teachers sharing how they discuss slavery and racism with their students. We also had two descendants of the family that owned Prospect Hill, one lives nearby and is a frequent visitor and the other flew all the way from California, just for the sleepover. Steve Ross spoke of what it felt like for him, being a descendant of slave owners. Not everyone has their family’s slave-owning past as well documented as the family that once owned Prospect Hill. That documentation is in large part due to the book, Mississippi In Africa: The Saga of the Slaves of Prospect Hill and their Legacy in Liberia by Alan Huffman, who several years ago, when I first became involved with Prospect Hill, became a close friend of mine. Alan was there as well. I’m sure that when writing his book, he never dreamed he’d one day be spending the night at Prospect Hill with about 24 other people. I was especially honored by the presence of my friends from the Mississippi Heritage Trust, they have always been supportive of Prospect Hill and share my belief that it has an important role to play in the community and our state. They spoke of how they address interpretation at sites they work with and other issues they deal with. Someone whose family owns a local monument company that has helped us repair gravestones in the cemetery brought his young son, and as we discussed how best to commemorate the enslaved people of Prospect Hill, whose graves are unknown, he volunteered to supply a monument for that purpose. I didn’t know what to say. Twenty-five people stayed overnight. The floor was covered with bodies. Many had never met any of the other people in the house before. Such openness, honesty, remembrance, pride and sharing taking place on the same ground where a child was killed in an arson fire, at least three enslaved people were lynched in the yard and two more burned alive, is extraordinary. Prospect Hill is a special place and a powerful place. It is a memorial, a storyteller, an ambassador and a classroom.

Saturday afternoon we visited what I believe is a slave cabin at Oakwood Plantation that is owned by some friends nearby. They plan to repair the cabin and we’re doing research on the people who lived there. The original house at Oakwood was built about 1840, and down the road from the cabin is an unmarked slave cemetery that was shown to the owner when he was a boy. There are many depressions of graves at that quiet spot in the woods, and he is determined to see that place marked so it isn’t forgotten. Accompanying us was a man who owns land adjacent to the plantation. He is a descendant of some of the people buried in that cemetery. He is also a Bishop of a local church and explained to us that his church recently expanded, and one building they purchased had belonged to the local Ku Klux Klan. The Klan in that area was notoriously vicious and responsible for several murders during the Civil Rights era. He counts former members of the Klan among his congregation. I couldn’t believe I was standing in a cemetery with a man whose enslaved ancestors were buried there in unmarked graves, while he told me of preaching in a former Klan headquarters, with no bitterness or anger in his voice. The power of these places transcend their own time and can affect people far in the future if we let them.

We celebrated Joe’s final night in Natchez with a dinner at Concord Quarters, which is the only surviving building at Concord Plantation, established in the late 1700’s by the last Spanish governor of the Natchez District. The quarters were built in 1820, when the prominent Minor family owned the plantation. The main house burned in 1901 and only one of the two slave quarters behind the house survived. This building is now a bed and breakfast owned by Deborah and Gregory Cosey. It is historically significant, and when Deborah shares its story with visitors, she says the names of those who were enslaved there. They are on her mind always. It has been a labor of love for them and a source of pride for the surrounding neighborhood, which itself is a historic African American neighborhood. Deborah has told me she often wonders what the original occupants would think if they knew that one day people would pay the African American owners to stay there. I do. And Joe spent two nights there as well. Concord Quarters is special. It is a slave dwelling; it is a home; it is a survivor, it is the first slave quarters to be a featured house for Natchez Pilgrimage Tours. It is a powerful place.

Because of Joe’s influence, I’d already found two bricks at Prospect Hill that had fingerprints in them, and I couldn’t wait to show him. I also showed them to a group of high school kids who visited Prospect Hill in February. Their mouths dropped. Those fingerprints spoke to them in ways I could not. It was the first group of young people I’ve had visit Prospect Hill, and I realized then just how important the work of The Slave Dwelling Project is in ensuring that places like Prospect Hill continue to exist.

It was an honor to be a part of the first official Slave Dwelling Project visit to Natchez and Prospect Hill. As someone with Mississippi and South Carolina roots and a seventeen-year-old daughter to be an example for, it’s a personal journey for me. For me supporting The Slave Dwelling Project is, as my dad would say, about “walking the walk, not talking the talk.”