"Giving Voice" Fundraiser Held at Royall House andSlave Quarters on October 11, 2014 from 3 to 5 p.m.

The Royall House and Slave Quarters in Medford (15 George Street, Medford, MA) welcomes 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.

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 (October 11 at 3 p.m.) 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. Sponsorship-listing donations are also welcome!

To purchase tickets or make a listing donation online using PayPal, please go to http://www.royallhouse.org/support/donate/

and click the PayPal donation button. After logging in to PayPal, please use the “Add special instructions to recipient” section to indicate the number of tickets reserved and/or amount of your donation, plus your email address in case we have any questions.

More information and reservations at: Director@Royallhouse.org, www.RoyallHouse.org, or by calling 781-396-9032.