Archaeology as a Tool of Civic Engagement

295 Pages·2007·11.689 MB·English

by  Barbara J. Little (ed.), Paul A. Shackel (ed.)

ARCHAEOLOGY AS A TOOL
OF CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

ARCHAEOLOGY AS
A TOOL OF CIVIC
ENGAGEMENT
Edited by
Barbara J. Little and Paul A. Shackel
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ALTpYv\IRA
PRESS
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ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
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Copyright © 2007 by AltaMira Press
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Archaeology as a tool of civic engagement / edited by Barbara J. Little and
Paul A. Shackel.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7591-1059-5 (cloth: alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-7591-1059-X (cloth: alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7591-1060-1 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-7591-1060-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Archaeology--Social aspects. 2. Archaeology--Political aspects.
3. Archaeology--Philosophy. 4. Archaeology--Case studies. 5. Social
participation. 6. Social justice. 7. Political participation. 8. Community life.
9. Public history. 10. Cultural policy. I. Little, Barbara J. II. Shackel, Paul A.
CC175.A732007
930.1--dc22
2006101549
Printed in the United States of America
'~-29T M The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements
of American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
1 Archaeology and Civic Engagement 1
Barbara ]. Little
2 History, Justice, and Reconciliation 23
Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonh
3 Civic Engagement at Werowocomoco: Reasserting
Native Narratives from a Powhatan Place of Power 47
Martin D. Gallivan and Danielle Moretti-Langholtz
4 Beyond Strategy and Good Intentions:
Archaeology, Race, and White Privilege 67
Carol McDavid
5 Politics, Inequality, and Engaged Archaeology:
Community Archaeology Along the Color Line 89
Paul R. Mullins
6 Remaking Connections: Archaeology and
Community after the Lorna Prieta Earthquake 109
Mary Praetzellis, Adrian Praetzellis, and Thad Van Bueren
vi / Contents
7 Voices from the Past: Changing the Culture of
Historic House Museums with Archaeology 131
Lori C. Stahlgren and M. Jay Stottman
8 Archaeology-the "Missing Link" to Civic
Engagement? An Introspective Look at the Tools of
Reinvention and Reengagement in Lancaster,
Pennsylvania 151
Kelly M. Britt
9 Civil Religion and Civically Engaged Archaeology:
Researching Benjamin Franklin and the Pragmatic
Spirit 173
Patrice L. Jeppson
10 Reconnecting the Present with Its Past:
The Doukhobor Pit House Public Archaeology
Project 203
Meagan Brooks
11 Heritage in Hampden: A Participatory Research
Design for Public Archaeology in a Working-Class
Neighborhood, Baltimore, Maryland 223
David A. Gadsby and Robert C. Chidester
12 Civic Engagement and Social Justice: Race on the
Illinois Frontier 243
Paul A. Shackel
13 Learning through Visitors: Exhibits as a Tool for
Encouraging Civic Engagement through
Archaeology 263
Teresa S. Moyer
Index 279
About the Contributors 283
Illustrations
Table
Table 1.1. Educational phases leading to civic
engagement and civic prosperity. 7
Figures
Figure 6.1. The Cypress Freeway and
Downtown Oakland. 110
Figure 6.2. Cover of Sights and Sounds:
Essays in Celebration of West Oakland. 123
Figure 6.3. Morris "Dad" Moore, September 1929. 125
Figure 7.1. The main house at Farmington,
built ca. 1815. 138
Figure 7.2. The slave memorial located on the
grounds of Farmington. 141
Figure 7.3. The detached kitchen under construction at
Riverside, with students excavating the washhouse site. 144
vii
viii / Illustrations
Figure 7.4. The public participates in an excavation
during a public archaeology event at Riverside. 146
Figure 8.1. Watt and Shand Department Store. 155
Figure 8.2. Thaddeus Stevens House and the
Kleiss Saloon. 156
Figure 8.3. Lydia Hamilton Smith Houses. 156
Figure 9.1. African American crew members
searching for Franklin house remains. 181
Figure 9.2. NPS archaeologist Schumacher's typed field
notes from 1953, indicating the hiring of union workers. 183
Figure 9.3. African American field crew members
excavating at Franklin Court in the early 1960s. 184
Figure 9.4. African American field crew members
screening for artifacts at Franklin Court. 185
Figure 10.1. Map of Saskatchewan showing the
location of Blain Lake inset. 205
Figure 10.2. Prayers and hymns were performed at the
opening day of the excavation to commemorate the
sites and Doukhobor people. 208
Figure 10.3. The remains of the dugout during the
fall of 2003, before excavation. 208
Figure 10.4. Volunteers learning about archaeology by
excavating and writing notes for their own units. 213
Figure 12.1. Map of New Philadelphia showing blocks,
lots, streets, and alleys. 244
Figure 12.2. The results of the walkover survey showing
the concentration of artifacts along Broad Way (running
north-south) and Main Street (running east-west). 247
Chapter 1
Archaeology and
Civic Engagement
Barbara J. Little
Our goal for this book is to encourage archaeologists to think
about effective ways to participate in the civic renewal move
ment. The goals of this somewhat loosely defined, yet quite real,
movement include community building, the creation of social
capital, and active citizen engagement in community and civic
life. Although archaeology per se is not usually seen as an ex
plicit part of this movement, there is a role for the discipline to
play, particularly as archaeological projects increasingly involve
the communities in which they occur and the descendants of the
peoples whose lives are the subject of study.
There is a great deal of public interest in the past and even
trust in the lessons learned from historic places and remnants
of historic places (e.g., Ramos and Duganne 2000, Rosenzweig
and Thelen 1998). The contributors to this volume are interested
in making the stories told at those places and about the past
fully inclusive. A strong thread runs through the volume about
raising consciousness about the past and connecting it with the
present, particularly with the intention of using archaeological
histories as pathways toward restorative justice. The authors
here are each intensely interested in helping to create a useable,
broadly conceived past that is civically engaging, that calls a
citizenry to participate in debates and decisions about preserva
tion and development but also, more importantly, to appreciate
1