The College of Charleston's Historic Preservation and Community Planning (HPCP) Program will present its Albert Simons Medal of Excellence to Joseph McGill, Jr., founder of The Slave Dwelling Project and co-author of Sleeping with the Ancestors: How I Followed the Footprints of Slavery. A short ceremony will take place, followed by a lecture by McGill.

The Simons Medal honors former faculty member Albert Simons (1890-1980), who had an immensely influential 60-year career as an architect and preservationist in Charleston. Simons also spearheaded the founding of the School of the Arts 35 years ago. The medal recognizes qualified individuals, such as Joseph McGill, who have excelled in one or more of the areas in which Simons excelled, including civic design, architectural design, historic/cultural preservation and urban planning. 

The Simons Medal is awarded annually by HPCP. Prior Simons Medal recipients include Marion and Greg Werkheiser, Adele Chatfield-Taylor, Peter Pennoyer, Robert A.M. Stern, His Royal Highness King Charles III, Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Richard Hampton Jenrette, Thomas Gordon Smith, John D. Milner, Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater–Zyberk and Allan Greenberg.