Sleeping with the Ancestors: How I Followed the Footprints of Slavery

As the founder of the Slave Dwelling Project, historic preservationist McGill has not only raised funds and awareness in support of the preservation of enslaved people’s dwellings but has stayed overnight in more than 200 of these structures across 25 states. He recounts these visits in a far-ranging and vibrant account (coauthored with journalist Frazier) that effortlessly shifts between personal recollections of McGill’s own life, including time spent as a Civil War reenactor that helped develop his appreciation for historic buildings and detailed descriptions of his overnight visits; focused micro-histories of the far-flung regions of the U.S. that are the sites of these dwellings; and the intimate stories of the enslaved people who lived in them, such as Sterling Jones, the last person to live in a slave cabin on the grounds of Virginia’s Sweet Briar College, which opened in 1906 with marketing materials that included promotional photos of the “picturesque” cabin. This highly readable chronicle emphasizes that slavery was truly a national phenomenon in antebellum America (slave accommodations were located not only on Southern plantations but in all major cities) and reclaims the meaning of these “sacred spaces” of African American history. The result is both an enthralling narrative and a powerful educational tool. (June)