Historian Joseph McGill joining Magnolia tour-guide staff

CHARLESTON, SC – June 20, 2011 –  South Carolina historic preservationist Joseph McGill, who has focused attention across the South to the plight of endangered slave cabins, will join the staff at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens as a part-time tour guide with an emphasis on African-American history and culture.

McGill, a program officer with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and a Civil War re-enactor, launched his slave cabin project at Magnolia a year ago. He spends the night in dwellings that were once occupied by enslaved people. Joining the Magnolia staff, he said, “is like coming home.”

McGill was part of a team of experts who guided Magnolia more than four years ago through the renovation of five historic structures that date back to 1850. The former slave dwellings now serve as the focal point for an award-winning 45-minute program “From Slavery to Freedom,” a daily tour at Magnolia. http://bit.ly/ineSH8.

“Being a part of that team that evaluated the cabins as they were restored (at Magnolia) motivated me to blow the dust off the idea to stay in the dwellings,” McGill said. “This is part of the history that is not often talked about, but Magnolia isn’t afraid” to share with visitors what life was like at Magnolia for African Americans before and after Emancipation. McGill also is the founder of the 54th Massachusetts, Co. I, Civil War Reenactment Regiment.

Tom Johnson, Magnolia’s director of gardens, said, “We’ll be working with McGill to expand the program. On the first night that he slept in one of the cabins at Magnolia, I was very impressed with his professionalism. He will be a great asset to Magnolia.”

Since launching the slave cabin project at Magnolia in May 2010, McGill has slept in 22 cabins in six states, and he has given 20 lectures in eight states. http://bit.ly/kFzg6A McGill said he’d like to have the slave cabin project based at Magnolia. “People look to Magnolia for advice on what to do with slave dwellings on their property,” he said. “It has become an outdoor classroom.”