Magnolia Gardens site of living history through the eyes of the enslaved
May 17, 2016
Experience history with period-dressed “living historians” as they tell stories and present craft and cooking demonstrations on Saturday, May 21, to mark a time when enslaved Africans labored in America.
The Slave Dwelling Project and Magnolia Plantation and Gardens will offer “Inalienable Rights: Living History Through the Eyes of the Enslaved” from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Joseph McGill, founder of the Slave Dwelling Project, and eight storytellers and craftsmen will gather at Magnolia’s former slave dwellings that now serve as the focal point for an award-winning program “From Slavery to Freedom.” The presentation at the cabins will be free with paid garden admission. All regularly scheduled “Slavery to Freedom” tours on Saturday have been canceled.
The night before the program the living history presenters will sleep in Magnolia’s cabins with McGill, a Magnolia history consultant. McGill launched the Slave Dwelling Project at Magnolia six years ago to assist property owners, government agencies and organizations to identify and preserve extant slave dwellings.
Since then McGill has slept in more than 90 former slave dwellings in 17 states. Due to the Slave Dwelling Project’s success, McGill said, “it is time to wake up and deliver the message that the people who lived in these structures were not a footnote in American history.”
The “Inalienable Rights” presentation is funded by the Coastal Community Foundation and the S.C. Humanities Council. Two other programs will be presented at Woodburn House in Pendleton, S.C. on July 15-16, and Hopsewee Plantation in Georgetown County on July 29-30. McGill held the first “Inalienable Rights” program on May 1 at the Lexington County Museum.
