Retracing the steps of their ancestors

This is the TED Radio Hour. Each week, groundbreaking TED Talks. Our job now is to dream big. Delivered at TED conferences To bring about the future we want to see. Around the world. To understand who we are. From those talks, we bring you speakers and ideas that will surprise you. You just don't know what you're gonna find. Challenge you. We truly have to ask ourselves, like, why is it noteworthy? And even change you. I literally feel like I'm a different person. Yes. Do you feel that way? Ideas worth spreading. From TED and NPR, I'm Manoush Zomorodi. On the show today, retracing their steps. Once you cross the exit road, it's one of the most magnificent oak trees on the property. This is Joseph McGill. He's a history and culture preservationist. To the right is a the magnificent white bridge that's so commonly photographed here on the property. Today, he's giving us a tour of the Magnolia Plantation in Charleston, South Carolina. It's a rice farm turned tourist attraction known for its historic buildings, lush gardens, and as a wedding venue. But Joe has also helped make sure Magnolia is known for the preservation of its slave cabins too. These are cabins for field hands. Therefore, they would not be near the house. Right outside this cabin is a a fire pit. That's where the enslaved people would have done their communal cooking. I'm looking at this is one of four that have been restored here on the property. These are Back in 2010, he decided to spend the night in one of these cabins. Mostly, people thought I was crazy. But I had, of course, built up the courage, and I couldn't back down. He brought just a pillow and sleeping bag. It was very uncomfortable. And as he lay next to the fire and the night wore on, he listened to the sounds of the former plantation. There were peacocks on the property, and they were, making noises that peacocks make. The wind was was blowing that night, eventually dozed off. But before all that could happen, those thoughts about the people, the families that were in those spaces, historically. Were they thinking about the next day they had to do that repetitive work of which they could not benefit? Were they thinking about the fact that, you know, if you're a lady of the house, your peace and solace that might exist in that space could be interrupted by the desire of the enslaver, the enslaver's son, or the overseer. Your children can be taken away from you at any time. You think about, running and and being chased by bloodhounds. You know, were your chances better running away, or should you continue to be a part of this system that enslaves you? Those kinds of things certainly were running through my head that very first night I was there at Magnolia. That night became the start of a project that has taken …