Royall House to Host Slave Dwelling Project

Slave Dwelling Project Marks First Visit to Massachusetts with Public Programs at Medford’s Royall House and Slave Quarters on October 11

This October, the Royall House and Slave Quarters in Medford will welcome Joseph McGill Jr., and his nationally acclaimed Slave Dwelling Project in the Project’s first visit to Massachusetts. The visit will be highlighted by two exciting public programs on Saturday, October 11, 2014—the museum’s annual Giving Voice program and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to stay overnight with McGill in the only remaining freestanding eighteenth-century slave quarters building in the North.

Since founding The Slave Dwelling Project four years ago, historic preservationist Joe McGill has slept in some 60 cabins and quarters across America that once housed enslaved people, and his goal is to stay overnight in all that remain. By focusing attention and resources on preserving these historically important dwelling places, he is also helping to ensure that the people who lived in these structures are remembered. The Project’s upcoming visit to the Royal House and Slave Quarters is the first to Massachusetts and only the second in New England.

The Giving Voice program, Slavery’s Physical Legacy, will take place on the museum grounds at 15 George Street from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. on October 11. In addition to a presentation by McGill on The Slave Dwelling Project, the afternoon will also include music, refreshments, and tours of the slave quarters and the mansion. The Overnight in the Slave Quarters begins at 9:00 p.m. on October 11. It will offer participants a unique chance to experience a night in the Slave Quarters and reflect with McGill on its history. Only a dozen spaces are available for this occasion.

The Royall House and Slave Quarters is uniquely suited to host these important public programs. In the eighteenth century, the mansion on the property was home to the largest slaveholding family in Massachusetts, while the Slave Quarters on the site, some 250 years after its construction, bears witness to intertwined stories of wealth and bondage.

Reflecting the shared commitment to education of both the Royal House and Slave Quarters and The Slave Dwelling Project, the Project’s visit to Medford will also include an invitation-only overnight for students from Medford High School and Tufts University on the evening of October 10. The Royall House and Slave Quarters is grateful to Tufts University for lead sponsorship of the Slave Dwelling Project’s visit.

“We are honored to be hosting the Slave Dwelling Project,” says Penny Outlaw, co-president of the Royall House and Slave Quarters board of directors, “and we thank Tufts University for their partnership in this effort. The eighteenth-century slave quarters on our site provides a unique window on the history of slavery in colonial New England. This project will connect it meaningfully with its counterparts in the South and across the nation, as evidence of a long and crucial chapter of America’s story.”

Tickets for Giving Voice are $50, or $40 for Royall House and Slave Quarters members; reservations are recommended. Tickets for the Overnight in the Slave Quarters are $200 per person; reservations are required. More information and reservations are available at RoyallHouse.org or by calling 781-396-9032.

Joseph McGill, founder of The Slave Dwelling Project

Royall House photo by Alexandra Chan

– Submitted by Royall House Director Tom Lincoln.