Speaker Series #7

Speaker Series #7

“Sleeping In Slave Dwellings and Changing the Narrative” with Joe McGill

Thursday, November 1, 2018

7:00 p.m. in the Barn

 
Joseph McGill, founder of the Slave Dwelling Project, returns to Historic Sotterley on Thursday, November 1^st  as part of our Common Ground, Connected Heritage project made possible through a grant from Maryland Humanities. He has taken his message of historic preservation and heritage to over 20 states, drawing attention to those slave dwelling structures that would have been forgotten and ensuring that the places that enslaved families built and passed on their culture will be here for future generations. Historic Sotterley connects to generations today through the stories and lives of its past. As members of this community and nation, we seek to understand ourselves through looking at the history, art, culture, and stories that highlight our different perspectives, experiences, and our human commonness.

In October 1864, the Union controlled government of Maryland ratified the third of four state constitutions. It abolished slavery in Maryland only with the help of votes from returning Union soldiers.  It failed to franchise anyone except white males who pledged loyalty to the Union. Maryland was a border state, along with Delaware, Kentucky, and Missouri, which meant they did not succeed from the Union but kept slavery. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation did not apply to Union slave states.  On November 1, 1864, 154 years ago, slavery officially ended in Maryland.  Many slave owners petitioned the government for compensation for their lost property years after the war ended.  With government power shifting to Democratic southern sympathizers, the 1864 constitution was replaced by the present constitution of 1867. Racial discriminatory laws and social practices continued in Maryland.  St. Mary’s County, Maryland schools were desegregated in 1968.

 

This Speaker Series event is FREE to the public.

Due to limited seating,

please call 301-373-2280 for reservations.

 

Thanks to The Boeing Company for supporting the Speaker Series at Sotterley for 11 years running

and to Maryland Humanities for supporting this event.