St. Mary's College of Maryland was founded as Maryland's "Monument School" —a living monument to St. Mary's City as Maryland's first colonial settlement, its tolerant "act concerning Religion," and its role as the original capital of the state. The college has emerged as a premier public liberal arts college for undergraduates, and in 1992 the Maryland legislature designated it as Maryland's "public honors college." The college recently established a Center for Democracy as part of its Maryland Heritage Project. The purpose of the Center is to sponsor scholarship and education on the evolution of democracy and civil society in 17th and 18th century Maryland, and to explore and advocate its relevance to civil society today. Today St. Mary's College students have remarkable opportunities to contribute to our understanding of Maryland's past through established programs in archaeology in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology, and colonial history in the Department of History. Agreements with Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum and Historic St. Mary's City have formalized the roles of archaeologists and historians at these institutions to serve as adjunct faculty at the college.
Proposed Programs: The Department of Anthropology and Sociology is in the process of establishing an archaeology track in the major. Plans also call for collaboration between the College's Department of Anthropology and Sociology and History Department, Historic St. Mary's City, and Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum to explore programs in Public History and Museum Studies. IMPART would provide additional faculty in colonial history and archaeology to strengthen these programs as they are formalized. Teacher training programs in cooperation with Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum and Historic St. Mary's City will be expanded as well.
Investments Toward IMPART: The last three years have seen increased coordination between Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum (JPPM), St. Mary's College (SMC) and Historic St. Mary's City (HSMC). Faculty adjunct positions have been established for SMC for staff from both HSMC and JPPM. These include M. Sullivan, H. Miller, S. Hurry and J. King. The museums' staff complements the anthropology classes taught by D. Ingersoll. In addition, Michael and Terry Kline have been hired by HSMC to lead a new folklife project in cooperation with the Maryland Historical Trust. They have focused on WWII veterans and African American experiences. Andrea Hammer in the English Department has focused on maritime and tobacco culture and other topics. Some students have helped establish the GIS database for archaeological sites at St. Mary's City, while others have helped establish a teaching type collection based on artifacts from the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Lab at JPPM. Last year SMC hired a colonial historian to assist in the undergraduate history degree program. There are currently 30 students in the undergraduate major, of which two-thirds focus on anthropology and one-third focus on sociology.
Maryland Heritage Project
Ms. Marsich's function in this IMPART-supported project was to provide archival research for the Getty Campus Heritage Grant.
Maryland Heritage Project
- Partner: St. Mary's College of Maryland
- Student: Michelle E. Marsich
Ms. Marsich's function in this IMPART-supported project was to provide archival research for the Getty Campus Heritage Grant. She worked in the St. Mary's College of Maryland Archives using primary documents from the college's collections to research particular inquiries raised by John Milner and Associates and the Maryland Heritage Project. The questions ranged from when the college campus first acquired electricity, physical alterations to college structures, and depicting the changing relationships between the college, Historic St. Mary's City, and Trinity Church. In order to determine much of this information, it was necessary to delve into the records and historical accounts of the campus from as early as the 1840s.
Among the records that provided the most information were the Board of Trustees meeting minutes, college catalogs, and assorted photographs. Especially when using the Board of Trustees meeting minutes, the documents had to be transcribed and, as is the case with understanding the language of the past, sometimes translated to a modern vernacular. The text style and handwriting of these papers was often difficult to understand and needed comparative research with other period appropriate work. Ms. Marsich also used the records of Trinity Church and spoke with parishioners to acquire further information.
In addition to research, the project involved communicating directly with representatives from John Milner and Associates. Ms. Marsich had regular direct correspondences with architectural historians and archaeologists as well as other professionals from preservation fields. Her findings were reported directly to them with citations and supporting documentation to allow for publication. She also attended formal meetings between the contractual firm, the college, Historic St. Mary's City, and Trinity Church as a student representative. The meetings focused on progress, goals, and what contributions needed to be considered.
The result of the assistantship was research forwarded to John Milner and Associates. It was reported in summaries with supporting documentation and will be incorporated in the published report for the Getty Campus Heritage Grant.
The Economics of Cultural Heritage Sites in Southern Maryland
During the Fall of 2004 and Spring of 2005, Gary Stapleton and Kathryn Bogel worked on compiling visitor survey data from Point Lookout State Park, and Piney Point Lighthouse and Museum and Historic St. Mary's City, respectively.
The Economics of Cultural Heritage Sites in Southern Maryland
- Partner: St. Mary's College of Maryland
- Student: Gary Stapleton and Kathryn Bogel
During the Fall of 2004 and Spring of 2005, Gary Stapleton and Kathryn Bogel worked on compiling visitor survey data from Point Lookout State Park, and Piney Point Lighthouse and Museum and Historic St. Mary's City, respectively. Survey data entry work involved development of data coding documents, actual data entry and intensive data review to assure dataset integrity and quality. Both Mr. Stapleton and Ms. Bogel gained research experience in applied cultural economic analysis, and how it is relevant to historical, archaeological and culturally important sites in southern Maryland. Ms. Bogel also secured additional observations through continued on-site administration of the Piney Point survey during the spring of 2005.
Drafting of an introductory text on the economics of cultural heritage sites was begun by Dr. P. Joan Poor (mentor). The data compiled with these IMPART funds was used to conduct non-market valuation case studies which will be an integral component of this text. Students gained important quantitative research experience in the field of Cultural Economics and how a basic understanding of economics can contribute to heritage site preservation policy. Preliminary data analysis and survey information were used for a professional presentation at the annual meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology, April 7, 2005, Santa Fe, New Mexico. The presentation title was “Cultural Heritage Sites: the Ultimate Public Good”.
Clocker's Fancy GIS Study
Abigail Meatyard and Lydia Weaver, sociology/anthropology majors at SMCM were recruited for the GIS project in the fall of 2004.
Clocker's Fancy GIS Study
- Partner: St. Mary's College of Maryland
- Student: Abigail Meatyard and Lydia Weaver
Abigail Meatyard and Lydia Weaver, sociology/anthropology majors at SMCM, were recruited for the GIS project in the fall of 2004, while they were taking a course in GIS offered through the Department of Biology. During the progress of the GIS course, they learned how to use GPS devices and computer mapping programs such as ArcView. They employed Clocker's Fancy data for their class projects. During the course, they prepared a based map of Clocker's Fancy and were able to map a number of architectural and landscape features. Unfortunately, during the spring semester, both students were so busy with other research projects they were not able to continue to work on the Clocker's Fancy data. At this point, it was not possible to replace them, as very specialized instrument and computer program knowledge was required. However, biology professor Robert Paul and his laboratory/field assistant, Henry Bush, were able to assist during the spring by contributing additional overlay maps to the Clocker's Fancy series. Henry Bush brought a high resolution GPS to the Clocker's Fancy site, and with Dan Ingersoll, mapped in a number of landscape and architectural features such as trees, vegetation zones, fences, and lanes. Additional data point entry was planned by Bush and Ingersoll. Information and images from the GIS project, produced by IMPART research assiatants Abigail Meatyard and Lydia Weaver (and also Robert Paul and Henry Bush) were included in a paper entitled “Turning Back the Clock[er's]: Anthropological Lifestyle as Praxis,” delivered at annual meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology, April 7, 2005, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Clocker's Fancy Web Pages
High quality documentary data relating to Clocker's Fancy was collected and prepared for web use by SMCM history major Lindsay Becker.
Clocker's Fancy Web Pages
- Partner: St. Mary's College of Maryland
- Student: Lindsay Becker
During the late fall of 2004 and the spring of 2005, history major Lindsay Becker collected extensive data on the Clocker's Fancy house, landscape, and former inhabitants. She began by reviewing the relevant primary and secondary source in Historic St. Mary's City's archives and the Maryland Collection at the library of St. Mary's College of Maryland. Copies were made of all relevant documents that touched on Clocker's Fancy in any way. With the help of Historic St. Mary's City researchers, Ms. Becker was able to get most of the elements in a title chain, tax records, and probates. Then Ms. Becker made a number of trips to archives such as the Register of Wills in Leonardtown and the Hall of Records in Annapolis. She photographed all available original documents with a high resolution digital camera, and photocopied or scanned transcript versions of documents. Many documents were downloaded from the web. The result was a substantial corpus of high quality documents, ready to be included in the Clocker's Fancy web site. Ms. Becker gained valuable experience working with archives and archivists in a number of institutions. There was not time to design the web site, but there was a wealth of material ready to be set in place when that part of the project began. Ms. Becker gained valuable experience working with archives and archivists in a number of institutions.
Images of titles, probates, and tax records from the Clocker's Fancy IMPART web site project, collected and organized by Lindsay Becker, were included in a paper entitled “Turning Back the Clock[er's]: Anthropological Lifestyle as Praxis,” delivered at annual meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology, April 7, 2005, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Trinity Church Cemetery
The research project involved an ongoing study of the Trinity Church Cemetery, St. Mary's City.
Trinity Church Cemetery
- Partner: St. Mary's College of Maryland
- Student: Dionisios Kavadias and Michael Addabbo
The research project involved an ongoing study of the Trinity Church Cemetery, St. Mary's City. Two St. Mary's College faculty, Helen Daugherty, professor of sociology, and Daniel Ingersoll, professor of anthropology studied, respectively, the demographics and iconography of the burial markers. Silas Hurry and Tim Riordan at Historic St. Mary's City consulted on the project. Dionisios Kavadias, a student at St. Mary's College, was the research assistant. Data collecting began during the spring of 2001 and continued to 2002. Initially, Mr. Kavadias located existing historical and documentary data. Trinity Church generously made its records available, and several online sources were located. The documentary (paper) data collected came in digital, searchable format, or was converted to digital format by Mr. Kavadias.
Working with Michael Addabbo, another St. Mary's College student, during the spring and summer of 2002 data entry of existing data was completed. The program Microsoft Access was set up for the project by Mr. Kavadias and Mr. Addabbo; after entering the data into Access, Mr. Addabbo exported it to Excel and then to SPSS. The demographic data were then available in SPSS and ready for Helen Daugherty to analyze. A massive visual record was prepared of the burial markers. Mr. Kavadias photographed 700 plus of the stones with digital cameras. Each marker was represented in several views including the stone's environment and foot markers; the face of the stone, and close-up details (inscriptions, icons, seasonal decorations). Mr. Addabbo organized and catalogued all the digital images and prepared thumbnail printouts as a guide to the image database. During the spring and early summer of 2002, Mr. Kavadias entered all marker locations into ArcView, a program that permits existing maps, markers, and features (trees, fences, buildings, etc.) on the landscape to be tied into a locational system (GIS: Geographic Information System) utilizing latitude and longitude. In a cooperative effort with Historic St. Mary's City researchers, Mr. Kavadias imported the results into ArcView of a ground penetrating radar survey conducted for Historic St. Mary's City of a portion of the cemetery lacking markers. Starting in September 2002, ArcGIS replaced ArcView in these operations. Kavadias and Ingersoll interviewed stonemasons and monument company representatives to learn about emic marker technology, typology, and terminology. Late in August 2002, Mr. Kavadias and Mr. Addabbo began the process of recording physical dimensions and of recording inscription and icon location on individual stones by superimposing a 25 cell grid. These cell contents were coded and stored in Access for later analysis in Access or SPSS.
The metrical and iconic coding work continued into May of 2003 when funds were exhausted. All the work on the metrical and iconic portion of the database was completed except for about 10-15% of the zone coding. Many kinds of queries can be made on the database except for queries requiring zoning data. During the spring of 2003, Mr. Kavadias produced a full length code book for the project entitled Data Collection for the Trinity Cemetery Project. This profusely illustrated manual contains a detailed guide to the Access database (field descriptions, menu structure, etc.), geospatial data, attribute definition, hundreds of thumbnail photographs of the markers, and bibliography. In the spring of 2003, for his work on the Trinity Cemetery project, Mr. Kavadias received the Historic Preservation Service Award from the St. Mary's County Board of Commissioners.
Race Relations on the Eastern Shore
David Kopczynski used his IMPART grant to fund travel to and research in libraries on the Eastern Shore.
Race Relations on the Eastern Shore
- Partner: St. Mary's College of Maryland
- Student: David Kopczynski
David Kopczynski used his IMPART grant to fund travel to and research in libraries on the Eastern Shore. The research formed a critical part of his St. Mary's Project – an examination of shifting race relations in the Eastern Shore following emancipation and the Civil War. Using old newspapers and documents found in archived personal papers, David tracked both the race and class tensions that existed as the Eastern Shore adjusted both to a changing economy and a changing, now free, labor force after 1865. He discovered, for instance, evidence of a biracial strike by oyster workers in the 1870s against unfair labor practices. He also uncovered, not surprisingly, how more overt forms of racism were employed in the late 1800s and early 1900s to impose a more rigid, racially separated society in the Eastern Shore by World War I. David's research and final paper were enhanced greatly by the funds he received through IMPART.
Southern Maryland Folklore Project
The mission of the Southern Maryland Folklife Project is to document the cultural landscape of this region. The Project creates broadcast quality audio recordings of life story interviews and African-American sacred music.
Southern Maryland Folklore Project
- Partner: St. Mary's College of Maryland and Historic St. Mary's City
- Student: Clare Zuraw, Joseph Hall, Linden McBride and Melinda Martin
The mission of the Southern Maryland Folklife Project is to document the cultural landscape of this region. The Project creates broadcast quality audio recordings of life story interviews and African-American sacred music. This enterprise focuses on tradition-bearers, people involved in the arts of daily living, in music, dance, crab-picking, and working on the water. Watermen, tobacco formers, housewives and mothers, recent immigrants, as well as those whose families watched the Ark and the Dove loom onto the horizon all have useful stories to contribute to this project.
Linden McBride and Joe Hall created verbatim transcripts of life story interviews of Southern Maryland tobacco farmers, African American church pastors, members of church congregations, and other tradition bearers. Through their work they made the project's folkloristic recordings more accessible to researchers and the public at large. They increased their own understanding of methodology in folklife research and expanded their sensitivity to the nuances of regional dialects.
Clare Zuraw archived, logged and summarized the field discoveries of the Southern Maryland Folklife Project. In doing so she created and organized a permanent record of collected materials for future research and reference. Through IMPART she gained experience in writing and with the archival process, as well as in the elements of folklife fieldwork. She had a cohesive, well-rounded experience through spending time in the field and then processing field data.
Melinda Martin scanned slides of photographs taken in the field, increasing the accessibility of the data and expanding her own perceptions of folklife fieldwork and documentary photography.
The Print House Site
These three Assistantships were designed to impart skills in archaeological laboratory procedures and quantitative assessment of artifacts.
The Print House Site
- Partner: St. Mary's College of Maryland and Historic St. Mary's City
- Student: Efland, Willoughby, and Rovielleo
These three Assistantships were designed to impart skills in archaeological laboratory procedures and quantitative assessment of artifacts. Materials used were recovered from the possible site of the late 17th-century William Nuthead printing house. This site contains a wealth of American Indian, 17th-century British Colonial and post-1840 African American material remains and provided excellent experience with an unusually wide range of archaeological materials. The museum has conducted excavations at this site as part of the joint St. Mary's College/Historic St. Mary's City field school since 1998. Results of the assistantships assisted in site interpretation and planning of reconstruction activities to create a new museum exhibit on the beginnings of printing in Maryland. Silas Hurry, Director of the archaeological laboratory at HSMC, directed these assistantships.
Over the course of the project 85 distinct archaeological contexts were processed. The processing included cleaning, labeling and cataloging of the specimens within each of the contexts. The students learned to rapidly identify the material so as to choose the correct cleaning method which would provide the best information without negatively impacting the integrity and stability of the objects. Labeling required learning about archivally stable inks and “best practice” in terms of label overcoating with stable acryloid compounds plus attention to detail in creating clear, readable labels. Cataloging was the most intellectually rigorous step in the standard artifact processing sequence. The students had to learn in depth identification skills to properly describe the objects in the permanent archaeological catalog.
These Research Assistantships have provided essential information for or ongoing research into the range of human activity, which occurred at 18ST1-14, the Print House Site. One of the priorities in the processing was to complete the cataloging of the random sample of excavation units which had been chosen to typify the site occupation. Ninety percent of the random sample was successfully processed so that they will shortly be able to begin a distributional analysis to assist in landscape reconstruction and interpretation of the site to the public. Additionally, on an individual level the students learned skills of budgeting their time so that they could participate in the program while maintaining full academic work loads. This experience helped impart to the students the need for good workplace habits in terms of reliability and maturity. The students also benefited from working in a professional setting where they could see the results of their work help begin to answer important questions.
