Sleeping with the Ancestors

How I Followed the Footprints of Slavery

By: Joseph McGill Jr., Herb Frazier

Narrated by: Joseph McGill Jr., Herb Frazier

Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

In this enlightening personal account, one man tells the story of his groundbreaking project to sleep overnight in former slave dwellings that still stand across the country—revealing the fascinating history behind these sites and shedding light on larger issues of race in America.

Joseph McGill Jr., a historic preservationist and Civil War reenactor, founded the Slave Dwelling Project in 2010 based on an idea that was sparked and first developed in 1999. Since founding the project, McGill has been touring the country, spending the night in former slave dwellings—throughout the South, but also the North and the West, where people are often surprised to learn that such structures exist. Events and gatherings are arranged around these overnight stays, and it provides a unique way to understand the often otherwise obscured and distorted history of slavery. The project has inspired difficult conversations about race in communities from South Carolina to Alabama to Texas to Minnesota to New York, and all over the United States.

Sleeping with the Ancestors focuses on all of the key sites McGill has visited in his ongoing project and digs deeper into the actual history of each location, using McGill’s own experience and conversations with the community to enhance those original stories. Altogether, McGill and coauthor Herb Frazier give listeners an important unexpected emersion into the history of slavery, and especially the obscured and ignored aspects of that history.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Joseph McGill, Jr. and Herb Frazier (P)2023 Hachette Books

Critic reviews

“In this gripping personal account, Joseph McGill Jr., and Herb Frazier seek to deepen and broaden our understanding of the horrors our African American ancestors endured for generations by chronicling McGill’s experiences sleeping in former slave dwellings. I firmly believe that our history must be told and should be understood if we are to avoid repeating our worst mistakes. Sleeping with the Ancestors will further that goal by serving as a tremendous historical reference from which all can learn.” —Congressman James E. Clyburn

“Scripture teaches to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly (Micah 6:8). Joe McGill walks the walk, and his hands-on, day-and-night journey inspires—one dwelling at a time. Few have done more than this determined South Carolinian to heal the scars of enslavement and lead us back—all of us—to the generations of ancestors whose unpaid labor shaped America. I feel lucky to have slept on some hard floors, seeing him stir the embers, share the meal, and invite the conversations that we all need to have.” —Peter H. Wood, Duke University historian, author of Black Majority and Strange New Land

"A soul-stirring memoir by a modern-day crusader who confronts our Nation's original sin to save forgotten national historic treasures in tribute to our enslaved ancestors who dwelled in them." —Dr. Edda L. Fields-Black, Carnegie Mellon University historian and author of Combee: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom During the Civil War

The ancestors are smiling

This book was very interesting. It’s amazing that someone could come up with this idea. I’m glad he did because it was one of my favorite books. I want to visit slave cabins

Timely

An exceptional and enlightening and often overlooked as aspect of America’s foundational early history of chattel slavery of African Americans. McGill’s eye opening journey told through his experiences of sleeping in slave dwellings allows the listener to imagine what the lives of these voiceless African Americans must have been in a compelling and emotional way. An important work.

Finished in a couple of days

Hearing about places and cities in South Carolina
Surprised that slaves were in 25 states

I loved the extensive research and history taught here!

American history that needs to be taught and understood. So powerful, if we had been taught true and full American history from the beginning we all would have been better for it.

Interesting take Ancestral Dwellings

I started it with enthusiasm and had to push to finish. Interesting read for all.

Timely and important

I became aware of this book when the PG county libraries hosted a talk by the authors. The book provides useful context for current discussions about race in the US. We all benefit from a more accurate and specific picture of how we got here.

Important and incredible work

Thank you, Mr. McGill, for this incredible work. I was so excited to listen to this book after encountering Mr. McGill's Facebook page. This is important work and ground breaking work... especially considering today's climate.

The truth of storytelling.

At times it hurt to listen. How long and how many stories have to be told before we get it. Racism is in our bones. Admit it and do something to address it.