James Madison's Montpelier We The People Spring 2014 | Page 17
CABIN FEVER!
RECONSTRUCTING
T H E P L A N TAT I O N L A N D S C A P E
CAN YOU DIG IT?
YES, YOU CAN!
Join Montpelier Archaeology’s
LEARN Program and help
discover the Montpelier
plantation. This year’s
expeditions will focus on
excavating the historic
core with the goal of better
understanding Mr. Madison’s
Temple and the work areas
south of the mansion—the
possible location of the
Madison dairy barn. Weeklong sessions are offered late
summer through fall and
include accommodations on
the grounds of Montpelier in
historic Arlington House.
I
n February, Montpelier hosted a log cabin workshop where volunteer participants
worked hand-in-glove with Montpelier archaeologists and a team of restoration
carpenters to reconstruct “Granny Milly’s Cabin,” a 19th-century slave cabin located
during a 2010 archaeology excavation. The workshop was the first of its kind and
drew together archaeological research, architectural analysis, and authentic log
cabin construction techniques to recreate a historic building that was part of the
early Montpelier landscape, better represent the experiences and contributions of
Montpelier’s enslaved community, and give visitors a sense of plantation life during
the Madison era.
Among the participants was Joseph McGill, Jr., a slave descendant who has made it
his life’s mission to sleep in as many American slave quarters he can find. In the past
four years, he has slept in 51 slave dwellings across the United States and has recently
founded “The Slave Dwelling
Project,” a non-profit
organization with a mission
to preserve slave dwellings
and raise awareness about
early-American slave culture.
“My goal is to save dwellings
on the verge of collapse
and to save them from
demolition and neglect.
It’s a source of inspiration
for me. For an institution
like Montpelier to be taking
such ownership of this story
is a good thing,” reflected
Mr. McGill. You can follow
McGill around the country in
Stand alone version
2014 through his website
Joseph McGill
2-color PMS 3435 of the Slave
Dwelling Project.
www.slavedwellingproject.org.
and PMS 448
or 4-color process
WE THE PEOPLE
ARCHAEOLOGY
17
Reversed
on single
or as sta
2014 SCHEDULE
August 3-9
August 10-16
August 17-23
September 7-13
September 21-27
(alumni participants only)
October 5-11
(alumni participants only)
October 19-25
No previous experience
required. Open to
participants of all ages.
For more information,
contact the Director of
Archaeology, alone version at
Matt Reeves
Stand
[email protected].
1-color PMS 3435
applications
or 4-color process