Richland County Conservation Commission helps sponsor slave dwelling conference

The Richland County Conservation Commission and the Historic Columbia Foundation are co-sponsoring a national meeting that aims to save historically important slave dwellings.

The third annual Slave Dwelling Project Conference is Sept. 19-21 at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center, where attendees will discuss efforts to preserve and maintain extant slave dwellings throughout the country. The Slave Dwelling Project is a nonprofit organization that assists property owners, government agencies and other entities in preserving slave dwellings as important collectibles of American history.

Historians, writers, archeologists, film producers, architects and preservationists will discuss the importance of slave dwellings throughout the three-day conference, and attendees can take part in field sessions that include a walking tour of the Horseshoe on the University of the South Carolina campus and a tour of Goodwill Plantation in Eastover.

Last year, more than 200 people attended the group’s conference in Charleston, S.C.

For more information about the Slave Dwelling Project and to register to attend the conference, visit www.slavedwellingproject.org.