Research projects

UPDATED!

Pauli Murray Family Home

Since 2016, my students and I have partnered with the Pauli Murray Project, to provide an archaeological assessment of the property where human rights activist Pauli Murray spent her formative years.  May 5, 2018, we will be hosting an open house/block party (PM Event Flyer_FINAL) to share some of our findings and to learn more about how archaeology can contribute to a thriving Durham.

Plastic Archaeology

I am collaborating with fellow archaeologist Eric Deetz and visual artist Robin Frohardt on an effort we are calling Plastic Archaeology.  We are exploring the ways that archaeologists can/might/should consider plastic artifacts.  Follow us on Instagram! @plastic_archaeology and check out the hashtag #plasticarchaeology.

Stagville

Summer 2014, I will be working with UNC Anthropology Ph.D. candidate Lindsay Bloch to recatalog artifacts and field records from a slave quarter excavated at Stagville.  In the 19th century, Stagville was part of the extensive holdings of the Bennehan and Cameron families, who were among the largest landowners and slave-holders in the state of North Carolina.

The recataloging is taking place in collaboration with the DAACS Research Consortium.  Our work will make this information available to anyone with an internet connection as part of the Digital Archaeological Archive for Comparative Slavery.

I will also be doing a training workshop with the Gathering Place Project, to teach current and aspiring museum professionals about archaeological techniques and resources.

In the fall of 2014, I will be transcribing, digitizing, and analyzing a ledger contained within the Cameron Family Papers, held in UNC’s Southern Historical Collection.  This document recorded purchases made by enslaved African-Americans in a store owned by the Cameron family.  It will be an important compliment to the archaeological material, with both sources combined providing a fuller picture of how African-Americans experienced the burgeoning “Consumer Revolution.