The Archaeology of Institutional Life

265 Pages·2009·1.508 MB·English

by  April M. Beisaw, James G. Gibb

The Archaeology of Institutional Life

The Archaeology of Institutional Life
Edited by
APRIL M. BEISAW AND JAMES G. GIBB
THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA PRESS
Tuscaloosa
Copyright © 2009
The University of Alabama Press
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0380
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Typefaces: Minion & Triplex
∞
The paper on which this book is printed meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The archaeology of institutional life / edited by April M. Beisaw and James G. Gibb.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8173-1637-2 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8173-5516-6 (pbk. : alk.
paper) — ISBN 978-0-8173-8118-9 (electronic) 1. Social institutions—History. 2. Social
archaeology. 3. Archaeology and history. 4. Archaeology—Social aspects. 5. Social history.
6. Public history. I. Beisaw, April M. II. Gibb, James G.
HM826.A73 2009
306.09—dc22
2008031052
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgments ix
1. Introduction
James G. Gibb 1
2. Historical Overview of the Archaeology of Institutional Life
Sherene Baugher 5
I. METHOD AND THEORY
3. On the Enigma of Incarceration: Philosophical Approaches
to Confi nement in the Modern Era
Eleanor Conlin Casella 17
4. Feminist Theory and the Historical Archaeology of Institutions
Suzanne M. Spencer-Wood 33
5. Constructing Institution-Specifi c Site Formation Models
April M. Beisaw 49
II. INSTITUTIONS OF EDUCATION
6. Rural Education and Community Social Relations:
Historical Archaeology of the Wea View Schoolhouse No. 8,
Wabash Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana
Deborah L. Rotman 69
7. Individual Struggles and Institutional Goals: Small Voices
from the Phoenix Indian School Track Site
Owen Lindauer 86
vi / Contents
III. INSTITUTIONS OF COMMUNALITY
8. The Orphanage at Schulyer Mansion
Lois M. Feister 105
9. A Feminist Approach to European Ideologies of Poverty and the
Institutionalization of the Poor in Falmouth, Massachusetts
Suzanne M. Spencer-Wood 117
10. Ideology, Idealism, and Reality: Investigating the Ephrata Commune
Stephen G. Warfel 137
IV. INSTITUTIONS OF INCARCERATION
11. Maintaining or Mixing Southern Culture in a Northern Prison:
Johnson’s Island Military Prison
David R. Bush 153
12. Written on the Walls: Inmate Graffi ti within Places of Confi nement
Eleanor Conlin Casella 172
13. John Conolly’s “Ideal” Asylum and Provisions for the Insane in Nineteenth-
Century South Australia and Tasmania
Susan Piddock 187
14. The Future of the Archaeology of Institutions
Lu Ann De Cunzo 206
References Cited 215
Contributors 243
Index 245
Illustrations
Figures
5.1. Oella School foundation and matching school plan 53
5.2. Dewey School in southeastern Michigan 56
5.3. Blaess School site map 61
5.4. Town Hall School site map 63
6.1. Wea View Schoolhouse No. 8 as it appeared in
Brainard Hooker’s 1917 book 75
6.2. Wea View Schoolhouse No. 8 site map 79
7.1. Phoenix Indian School map depicting the Track Site 89
7.2. Artifacts from the Phoenix Indian School 98
8.1. Residents of the orphanage at Schulyer Mansion 109
8.2. Doll parts excavated from Schuyler Mansion 111
9.1. Falmouth Poor House building, now the Artists’ Guild 121
9.2. Plan view of the Falmouth Almshouse 123
10.1. Ephrata Sisters’ House and Prayer House 142
10.2. Plan view of Kedar posthole pattern 144
10.3. Plan view of Ephrata Cloister historic site 145
10.4. Pottery found on the Mount Zion dormitory site 148
viii / Illustrations
11.1. Gould map of Johnson’s Island Military Prison 154
11.2. Site map of Johnson’s Island Military Prison 158
11.3. Hard rubber crafts from Johnson’s Island Military Prison 168
11.4. Distribution of craft materials from Johnson’s Island
Military Prison 169
12.1. Cell graffi ti from Fremantle Prison, Western Australia 177
12.2. Cell graffi ti from Dungeons of the Palazzo Ducale and
Fremantle Prison 178
12.3. Cell graffi ti from Fremantle Prison, Western Australia 184
12.4. Cell graffi ti from Kilmainham Gaol, Ireland 185
13.1. Watercolor painting of Adelaide Lunatic Asylum 193
13.2. Plan view of the Adelaide Lunatic Asylum 194
13.3. Plan view of Parkside Lunatic Asylum 195
13.4. Plan view of New Norfolk Hospital 198
Tables
5.1. One-room schoolhouse site formation process model 55
6.1. Artifacts found in privies at Wea View
Schoolhouse No. 8 82
6.2. Minimum number of vessels from Wea View
Schoolhouse No. 8 83
13.1. Conolly’s ideal asylum features and their actual frequency 191
Acknowledgments
Baugher, Chapter 2. I wish to thank the editors, April Beisaw and James
Gibb, for inviting me to be part of this book and for reading and com-
menting on drafts of this chapter. They also deserve many thanks for their
dedication and perseverance in taking an SHA symposium, expanding
the papers, and then transforming them with the addition of new chap-
ters into this book. I wish to express my appreciation to Suzanne Spencer-
Wood for her very helpful editorial suggestions. Many thanks go to Lu Ann
De Cunzo for the numerous enjoyable discussions we had brainstorm-
ing about our “bookend” chapters and how to approach the past, present,
and future of the archaeology of institutional life. Finally, I give heartfelt
thanks to my husband, Robert W. Venables, for his support and encourage-
ment. I always appreciate the insights he brings as a historian, and I enjoy
his challenging questions.
Spencer-Wood, Chapter 4. I would like to thank Eleanor Casella for refer-
ring me to Nicole Rafter and other feminist penologists. My thanks also to
April Beisaw for her hard work in shortening this chapter. Of course, any
remaining errors are mine.
Beisaw, Chapter 5. The Michigan Archaeology Society and the Saline
and Pittsfi eld, Michigan, historical societies, residents, and town offi ces,
provided signifi cant assistance with the Blaess and Town Hall School proj-
ects. Thanks to the National Park Service, Hannah Geddes Wright, Anna
Agbe-Davies, Stephen Wald, and Julie Schablitsky for providing informa-
tion about their research. Stanley Loomis, a former student, and Dr. Joseph