University of Mississippi Slavery Research Group

In "Moving Spirits II," dancer and choreographer Jennifer Mizenko collaborated with historian Rhondalyn Peairs to create an immersive performance at Rowan Oak, the historic home in Oxford, Mississippi.

This site-specific dance movement performance delved into the lives of individuals enslaved by Robert Sheegog, the original owner of the house, intertwining historical narration, dance, and song to illuminate their stories. By partnering with historians and genealogists, Mizenko and Peairs aimed to document and honor the histories of the families associated with Rowan Oak, fostering a deeper understanding of the area's African American heritage.

To see a promo for the film and to support the film's completion, go to https://givebutter.com/movingspirits

This week, several members of the UM Slavery Research Group will be participating in the Memorialization: Theory, Methods, Goals, and Ethics conference co-organized by SRG member Carolyn Freiwald. The conference will include paper presentations, workshops, keynote speakers, and campus tours guided by SRG members Don Guillory, Rhondalyn Peairs, and Jodi Skipper. See the link below for more details.

Memorialization Conference (NEH) | TCPE Scholars from many fields develop and study memorials and the process of memorialization. Some scholars work on the contextualization of existing monuments. Others create art installations and educational displays in museums and memorials in public spaces, and still others examine historical trends....

In 2018, the University of Mississippi Slavery Research Group hosted a sleepover in the slave quarters at Rowan Oak, which was led by Joseph McGill of The Slave Dwelling Project. It was a tremendous success, with more than a dozen faculty and students taking part! You can learn more about Joe's sleepovers in Mississippi at his talk this Wednesday, at the Two Mississippi Museums (and on Facebook Live), sponsored by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. You can read more about his sleepover at Rowan Oak here. https://news.olemiss.edu/students-faculty-spend-night-rowan-oak-grounds/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3pPfIaCAeCbmpT8TQW8HWFl2OoaZkFKwcEXKIEVlH7YM3dPu43p-pTLkk_aem_kV5jcvIFedi4PuosBMR4XQ

At noon on Wednesday, June 26, Joseph McGill, Jr. will present “Sleeping with the Ancestors in Mississippi.” for History Is Lunch, onsite in Jackson, or you can watch the livestream.

In 2010 McGill founded the Slave Dwelling Project to bring attention to the neglected and forgotten places where enslaved people spent significant portions of their lives—the structures they lived in. As a way to connect to those enslaved people, McGill sleeps overnight in the former slave dwellings.
Since founding the project, McGill has toured the country and spent nights in former slave dwellings not just in the South, but also the North and the West, where people are often surprised to learn that such structures exist.
“I’ve visited sites across Mississippi, including Columbus, Natchez, Holly Springs, the University of Mississippi, and Rowan Oak in Oxford,” said McGill, co-author of the book Sleeping with the Ancestors: How I Followed the Footprints of Slavery. “I’m interested to compare and contrast how slavery looked in Mississippi and in the rest of the antebellum nation.”

Publishers Weekly called the book a “far-ranging and vibrant account … 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.”
Joseph McGill is a former field officer for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, where he worked to revitalize the Sweet Auburn commercial district in Atlanta and to develop a management plan for the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area. He is a former executive director of the African American Museum in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and a former director of history and culture at Penn Center, St. Helena Island, South Carolina. McGill has also served as a National Park Service park ranger at Fort Sumter National Monument in Charleston. An Air Force veteran, McGill earned his BA in Professional English from South Carolina State University.

Copies of Sleeping with the Ancestors will be for sale at the program.

History Is Lunch: Joseph McGill, "Sleeping with the Ancestors in Mississippi" | Mississippi Department of Archives & History At noon on Wednesday, June 26, Joseph McGill will present "Sleeping with the Ancestors in Mississippi" as part of the History Is Lunch series. The program will take place in the Craig H. Neilsen Auditorium of the Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum building and stream l...

Congratulations to Dr. Don Guillory, our Slavery and the University campus tour guide, on getting his PhD in History from the University of Mississippi Department of History!

Award of Merit - University of Mississippi Slavery Research Group. Pictured are professors Jeff Jackson and Chuck Ross.

"We thought there might be a few people interested," [Jeff] Jackson said. "But what we had was an outpouring of people from many departments across campus."

Over the last decade, that group has included 58 faculty members and students from 17 academic departments. Through historical records, the group has identified the names of more than 34 (and counting) enslaved people out of the hundreds who worked on campus between 1846 and 1863 or on properties that the university has since acquired.

As of December 2023, the group has also escorted more than 10,000 students and visitors on the UM Slavery Tour, a guided look at the history of slavery at the university, [Chuck] Ross said.

Mississippi Historical Society Recognizes University of Mississippi Slavery Research Group Group recognized for cross-disciplinary approach to discovering history of enslaved people The Mississippi Historical Society has honored the University of Mississippi Slavery Research Group for it…

We are so pleased to be able to share the news that the UM Slavery Research Group is being honored this Friday, Feb 23rd with an “Award of Merit” from the Mississippi Historical Society. Awards of Merit are presented annually to individuals or organizations for their outstanding work to preserve Mississippi history.

Drs. Jeffrey Jackson and Chuck Ross will accept the award on behalf of the collective efforts of everyone who is a member of UMSRG or has ever been a member of UMSRG.

We would also like to congratulate our friends Mr. Roy DeBerry with the Hill Country Project and Drs. Carolyn Freiwald and Jodi Skipper, with the Behind the Big House program, who are being honored with the MHS Excellence in History Award, also this Friday.

We celebrate all of these efforts to tell our shared histories in North Mississippi! You can find more information on The Hill Country Project here, https://www.hillcountryproject.org/book and the Behind the Big House program here, https://behindthebighouse.org/.

Voices from the Hill Country — The Hill Country Project On October 29, 2022 the Hill Country Project celebrated the release of their book at The Umbrella Event Space in Lamar, Mississippi. This is the program from the event, featuring a new video clip about voting rights as well as the unveiling of a Mississippi Freedom Trail Marker for Henry Reaves.

Register for the MHS annual meeting to see a February 23rd presentation by our co-chairs Dr. Jeffrey T. Jackson and Charles "Chuck" Ross , with Don Guillory, PhD student in the University of Mississippi Department of History & Rhondalyn Peairs, MA student in Southern Studies.

Annual Meeting | Mississippi Historical Society Please indicate all events you plan to attend. Each attendee must fill out this form separately. Do not use this form to register multiple people. To complete your registration online, please make sure you complete the credit card payment portion.  You do not need a PayPal account but can register ...