In conjunction with Historical Society of Princeton, Princeton Public Library, Arts Council of Princeton, and Witherspoon-Jackson Historical and Cultural Society, Morven is honored to host a Slave Dwelling Project www.slavedwellingproject.org/ Program Oct 12 and 13; bringing Mr. Joe McGill’s program to New Jersey for the first time. Mr. McGill’s Slave Dwelling Project brings historians, and the public together to educate, collaborate and organize resources to illuminate and often, save, important African American history related to slave ancestry.

Shirley Satterfield will kick off the weekend’s activities with a walking tour of Princeton’s Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood on Friday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. ($8.00 per person, limited to 20 people. All funds for this tour will go to Witherspoon-Jackson Historical and Cultural Society.) The tour is approximately two hours long and requires participants to be able to comfortably walk or stand for the duration of the tour. Register for the tour HERE!

At 6:00 p.m., members of the public, of all ages, are invited to gather for supper and conversation with Mr. McGill. He will lead a participatory program reflecting on the need to preserve memories which live in the homes of enslaved ancestors and the ways in which Morven is affecting this through its reinstalled galleries.

For those who wish to continue the conversation, participants will adjourn to a circle around a fire pit in what was the working gardens of Morven. Please bring lawn chairs or blankets if you plan to stay.

A select number of guests will sleep over in the Mansion on Friday evening with Mr. McGill. Sleeping spaces are extremely limited with participants bringing their own sleeping bags and resting on the floor in the West Wing – near where we believe Morven’s slaves would have lived and worked. To be included in the lottery for Friday night’s sleepover, email Morven’s Curator of Education and Public Programs at dlampertrudman@morven.org and include a line or two describing why you are interested in the sleepover.

The public is invited to join us on Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. for a light breakfast. Reflections of the night will be shared by those who slept over and questions fielded by Mr. McGill.

Saturday hosts a number of meaningful and interactive events stemming from our examination of Morven’s slave narrative and expands into everyone’s historic narrative from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. including:

  • A variety of Musical performances by ethnomusicologist and fiddle/banjo scholar Jake Blount
  • Presentation of the Stockton Papers and other rarely viewed Stockton materials by Izzy Kasdin, Executive Director of Historical Society of Princeton
  • Princeton Public Library’s providing genealogy and ancestry research materials for use by the public
  • A liberty-themed interactive chalkboard art wall
  • Children’s hands-on take home paper quilt project led by Dressler Smith of Arts Council of Princeton

Friday, October 12 and Saturday, October 13, All ages welcome
Free to the Public, $10 for public museum admission; Free to Friends of Morven

Pre-registration, is not required, however it is recommended. Walk ups will be admitted as space allows. To register, please click on this link or contact our Curator of Education and Public Programming, Debra Lampert-Rudman, at 609-924-8144 x.106