Edward L. Ayers is Tucker-Boatwright Professor of the Humanities and president emeritus at the University of Richmond. Dr. Ayers has been named National Professor of the Year, received the National Humanities Medal from President Obama at the White House, was a finalist for the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize, and won the Bancroft Prize for distinguished writing in American history. Ayers is one of the co-hosts for BackStory, a popular podcast about American history. His newest book, The Thin Light of Freedom: The Civil War and Emancipation in the Heart of America, will be published this fall.

Calder Loth is the Senior Architectural Historian of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. He is Co-President of the Center of Palladian Studies in America, a member of the Virginia State Art and Architectural Review Board, and member of the Board of Trustees of Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest. He also teaches architectural literacy for the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art in New York. In 2008 he received the first Secretary of the Interior’s Award for service to state preservation programs. His publications include The Virginia Landmarks Register and Virginia Landmarks of Black History. 

A descendant of slaves, Joseph McGill founded the Slave Dwelling Project to ensure the preservation of slave dwellings in the United States. For years he worked for the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Charleston, South Carolina, by day, and spent his weekends as a Civil War re-enactor, wearing the uniform of the 54th Massachusetts, the black unit featured in the movie Glory. Re-enacting the 54th helped draw public attention to the pivotal role of black soldiers in the Civil War. So in 2010 when the Magnolia Plantation near Charleston sought to publicize the restoration of its neglected slave cabins, he proposed sleeping in one of them. Since then, he has spent nights in over 80 slave dwellings in 17 states.