Historic preservationist Joseph McGill, founder of the Slave Dwelling Project, will pay his first visit to Tennessee with a presentation, lecture and overnight stay May 22 at the historic Clover Bottom Mansion.
Historic preservationist Joseph McGill, founder of the Slave Dwelling Project, will pay his first visit to Tennessee with a presentation, lecture and overnight stay May 22 at the historic Clover Bottom Mansion. The event is free and open to the public.
“We are very honored to host Mr. McGill and to combine our annual awards program with this special presentation,” said Patrick McIntyre, State Historic Preservation Officer and Executive Director of the Tennessee Historical Commission. “Since 2010, McGill has traveled the country staying in the former homes of enslaved residents in order to bring attention to the scarcity of these properties and the need to preserve them. This is his first visit to Tennessee for this project.”
McGill will keynote a special lecture entitled “Silent Witnesses: Preserving Slave Dwellings” at 2 p.m. Also joining McGill will be Dr. Bobby L. Lovett of Tennessee State University, who will discuss slave life in Nashville and Tennessee.
John Baker, author and Wessyngton Plantation slave descendant, will speak on his ongoing work to identify former slaves from this Robertson County plantation, and THC staff member Steve Rogers will speak about Clover Bottom Plantation and John McCline, who was born a slave at Clover Bottom and served in the Union Army in the Civil War.
The Commission will present the 40th Annual Certificate of Merit Awards at 3:30 p.m. This program recognizes people and projects from around the state who have contributed to preserving historic places and/or the history of Tennessee as part of National Preservation Month.
Following Thursday’s events, McGill will stay overnight in a historic period outbuilding at Clover Bottom. He will then spend Friday night at Alfred’s Cabin at the Hermitage and Saturday evening at Bob Green’s Cabin at Belle Meade Plantation.
McGill’s visit is being funded with grant support from the Tennessee Wars Commission, a part of the Historical Commission. The Tennessee Historical Commission is the State Historic Preservation Office.
For more information, call 615- 532-1550 or visit www.tnhistoricalcommission.org.
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