IMPART: Institute for Museum, Preservation & Archaeology Research and Training

Archaeology Exhibit Assistant

• Partner: Banneker-Douglass Museum
• Student: Kelsey Creech

The Banneker-Douglass Museum planned a temporary exhibit (tentatively titled Annapolis Underground) to open in May 2005 and close in December 2005. The exhibit explored what archaeology has to teach Annapolitans about the history of African Americans in the city, with a particular focus on digs done in the museum’s immediate neighborhood, “the Courthouse block,” which has been the subject of much archaeological investigation by the University of Maryland’s Archaeology in Annapolis. During her IMPART assistantship UMd student Kelsey Creech played an integral part in the work of the exhibit team under the supervision of Banneker-Douglass Museum Research Historian Elizabeth P. Stewart and UMd Professor Mark Leone. Her primary tasks included assisting in the development of exhibit themes and in the preliminary selection of artifacts for exhibit.

After the exhibit team set out parameters for exhibitable objects—whole artifacts, unique artifacts, artifacts such as toys discussed in past oral histories, and artifacts illustrative of designated themes—Ms. Creech began by combing through six seasons’ worth of dig reports and artifact catalogs to narrow down thousands of possible artifacts to a manageable number. As she explains it, her survey represented “the first cut.” Ms. Creech created a database of possible artifacts, including their dig locations and their storage locations, from which the team could select. She and another intern physically located these possible objects and pulled them for consideration by the larger team. By the end of this assistantship, she had identified and organized over 200 artifacts for possible inclusion in the exhibit, working to make qualitative decisions about how well a particular object might “speak” to exhibit-goers, which artifacts might be successfully mended, and which artifacts required further research.

Ms. Creech came to the project with two summers of field experience, but little background in working with artifacts after the dig; she was particularly interested in using the assistantship to discover how archaeological artifacts might be interpreted in a museum setting. By being involved with this exhibit “from the ground up” she learned how much thought, discussion, and teamwork goes into creating an exhibit; incidentally she also discovered the usefulness of careful and detailed cataloging. In her own words, “the main thing that I’ve gleaned from this experience is that no matter how big or small, how imperative or insignificant, each item taken from the ground has a story.” She also gained insight into the process of interpretation; as she describes it, an object’s story can be told “by the people immediately involved, through oral history reports, or it can be told through the minds of each individual who looks as it.” Her assistantship benefited the museum by considerably speeding up the selection and pulling of artifacts and providing a fresh eye.

Curatorial Assistant and Research Aid

• Partner: Goucher University
• Student: Telia Alilio

The main focus of Ms. Alilio’s Internship at Hampton Mansion was to assist in the packing and removal of items in the collection from the house. A secondary focus was to review research completed by Kent Lancaster pertaining to the former slaves of Hampton and to create a way of better organizing it.

Throughout the packing process she learned many valuable tools to help her as she pursues a career in Historic Preservation. She learned how important it is that each item be identified by its own cataloguing number and location before it is packed, including when it is packed and where it will be stored. Ms. Alilio also learned how to properly maintain the interior of Hampton.

The research she aided in organizing was compiled by Kent Lancaster, who worked at Hampton a few years prior. He reviewed diaries, sales receipts, newspaper clippings, letters, and wills and other types of documents to gather any information he could on the slaves of Hampton mansion. Hampton archives do contain records such as that of Captain Charles Ridgely reporting a runaway slave to the local paper. Runaway reports, sales receipts and inventories comprise most of the archival collection located in the Long House Granary at Hampton. In all there are about 15 paper documents regarding the slaves. A majority of documentation regarding the slaves of Hampton is housed in the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore. Ms. Alilio reviewed the files left by Mr. Lancaster and proposed methods of organization so that visitors, students, or staff may be able to know at a glance what type of information the files contain.

Hampton National Historic Site Parterre Garden Rehabilitation

• Partner: Goucher University
• Student: Fran Scully

The scope of the report included an examination of the factors involved in rehabilitating the formal parterre gardens at Hampton. Economic factors, installation and maintenance issues, staff, potential problems and solutions, and the importance of the gardens to the site were all examined.

The purpose of the report was to provide Hampton NHS with a lucid rationale for the rehabilitation in an effort to move the process forward. The overall goal of the rehabilitation was to present and interpret the gardens in such a way that reflected the importance of horticulture in the history of Hampton. A recurring theme throughout the property’s history was that the gardens were seen as an extension of the Mansion. The Mansion has been restored and was preparing for the installation of a new HVAC system. The gardens had not been given the same attention as the house and, due to their ephemeral nature, continued to change and deteriorate on a daily basis. The rehabilitation’s aim was to raise them to the same standard as the house in order to tell a more complete story. With a focus on utility and practicality, the materials in the report should be applicable both now and in the future.

The report includes the following: a statement of the significance of Hampton; a historical narrative of the site; existing conditions in the gardens including photographic documentation; an explanation and rationale for the treatment approach; a brief biography and explanation of the influence of Alden Hopkins, the landscape architect who was involved in an earlier restoration attempt; a list of current and potential problems and solutions, most notably insufficient labor and funds; problem and solution ideas from other historic landscapes; a chart for the proposed rehabilitation of Parterre One including plant names, quantities, sizes, costs, and sources; recommendations for further research and actions; and a chronology of the appearance of the gardens.

The Assistantship was mutually beneficial. The research and field work at Hampton provided Ms. Scully with an invaluable experience that led to a better understanding of the challenges of historic landscape preservation. It also provided time towards her degree and laid the groundwork for her thesis. The completed report, along with other research, aids Hampton as it continues to develop the rehabilitation plan for the gardens.

Curatorial Assistant and Research Aid

• Partner: Historic St. Mary's City
• Student: Laura Wienand and Emily Hoban

The objective of this Assistantship was 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 remains and provides an 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 assistantship directly assisted in site interpretation and planning of reconstruction activities to create a new museum exhibit on the beginnings of printing in Maryland. This assistantship was directed by Silas Hurry, Director of the archaeological laboratory at HSMC. During the time the intern was present she assisted with the processing and analysis of architectural material which will assist in the reconstruction plans for the Printhouse interpretive exhibit.

Processing and Analysis of Materials from ST1-23

• Partner: Historic St. Mary's City
• Student: Margaret Randall and Tiffany Deutscher

The objective of this Assistantship was to impart skills in archaeological laboratory procedures and quantitative assessment of artifacts. Materials used were recovered from the site of the 17th-century St. John’s site, built in 1638 and abandoned ca. 1720. This site contains a wealth of 17th-century British Colonial remains and provided excellent experience with an unusually wide range of archaeological materials. The museum conducted excavations at this site as part of the joint St. Mary’s College/Historic St. Mary’s City effort to develop an exhibit complex at this site. Results of the assistantship are assisting with site interpretation. This assistantship was directed by Silas Hurry, Director of the archaeological laboratory at HSMC. During the time the intern was present she assisted with the processing and analysis of a varied a wide range of material from the ongoing excavations at the St. John’s site. These have included materials from sealed contexts and plow disturbed horizons.

Addison Plantation Project

• Partner: Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum
• Student: Brenna Savage

Brenna Savage worked with the team that was processing artifacts from 18th-20th century Addison Plantation in Oxon Hill. She gained experience in washing, labeling, and curating historic objects. As the project progressed, she also entered artifact data into the State’s computer catalog, and learned how to process soil and flotation samples. She also assisted in developing an artifact study collection for the site. As a result of her time at the Lab, Brenna learned to recognize a wide variety of historic period material culture, and developed an understanding of the procedures archaeologists follow in their efforts to permanently curate artifacts.

Field Assistant

• Partner: Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum
• Student: Kurt Lewis

The primary objective of Mr. Lewis’ Impart position was assisting with the excavation of the foundation of the house at Smith’s St. Leonard. He learned many techniques including working with the public, the history of the site, and new and better techniques and field methods. Finally, he was able to acquire experience on how to properly run and manage an archeological site from his Field Chief.

This experience was invaluable; it allowed Mr. Lewis to work with the public and hone his skills in both the field and the lab. He was able to gain experience on a rich and important archeological site. During his time in the lab he was also able to further hone his skills at artifact identification while labeling and categorizing artifacts for re-bagging and later cataloging. Finally, this site allowed for an all-around improvement in his archeological methods and skills.

The most important piece of knowledge he took away from the experience was how to work with the public and their value to archeology. The ability to work with the public is invaluable to archeology, due to shortages of resources and manpower. The public provides archaeologists with many willing and able people to perform much-needed processing of artifacts and labor in the field.

This internship slot began in September 2004, when Brenna Savage began working with a professional team processing artifacts from the Addison Plantation site. However, Brenna resigned her internship after a couple of months, and a replacement could not be found immediately. By January, the Addison project was finished, and an intern was no longer needed. Instead, the remaining Impart funds were re-directed to Kurt Lewis. He spent May and June 2005 participating in the Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum’s annual Public Archaeology Program, assisting project supervisors Eric Frere and Ed Chaney. Kurt’s responsibilities included helping with all aspects of the excavations; washing, labeling, and sorting the excavated artifacts; and most importantly, working with volunteers and children participating in the program. Over 400 adult volunteers and school kids joined the program, and Kurt was an able teacher to these inexperienced archaeologists. He demonstrated patience while imparting his knowledge to the volunteers, and they seemed to appreciate his efforts. From the Museum’s perspective, Kurt was essential to the program. They simply could not accommodate 400 volunteers without the assistance he provided. Therefore, he was a key member of one of the Museum’s signature programs and he picked up valuable skills working with the public, skills he can apply in nearly any profession he chooses for himself.

Curatorial Assistant and Research Aide

• Partner: Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum
• Student: Kurt Lewis

The primary focus of Mr. Lewis’ Impart program on the Benjamin Banneker site was the reorganization and consolidation of the site. It was also deemed necessary to create a type collection and to separate artifacts for this type collection. Another primary objective was the removal of the many metal artifacts that were still mixed in with the other artifacts. These metal artifacts needed to be separated and placed into a separate micro-environment for conservation. Other goals and objectives arose throughout the reorganization process. These included the creation of a list of all artifacts missing or possibly located in the museum.

In addition to learning how to properly organize an archeological site, Mr. Lewis also learned conservation techniques, such as how to create a micro-environment. This project allowed him to further develop his skills in identifying various artifacts and discover new identification techniques. Furthermore, the creation of the collection gave him opportunities to perform research on artifacts in order to provide proper identification. Finally, the project furnished him with an appreciation of the need for proper cataloging, analysis, and organization of sites following an excavation.

The proper organization of archeological sites is imperative to their preservation but is something that is severely lacking, mainly due to a lack of finances and inexperience among some archeologists. There are many sites that need to be properly conserved and curated and without this the information from many of these sites may be lost, along with the artifacts.

Mr. Lewis spent several months working with the MAC Lab’s Collections Department staff on one of Maryland’s most significant archaeological collections, the Benjamin Banneker archaeological site (18BA282) collection. This work included creating a comprehensive study collection of the site’s most important artifacts, making this collection more accessible to researchers. He also created desiccated microenvironments for all metal artifacts, which will ensure the long-term preservation of these sensitive objects. He also spot-checked the artifact inventory against the actual artifacts to verify artifact identification and storage location, which allowed for a more accurate accounting of the artifacts in the collections inventory database. All of these tasks were an integral part of accomplishing the Collections Department’s mission to curate, inventory, and preserve the State’s archaeological collections. As a result of Mr. Lewis’s hard work, the staff from the Benjamin Banneker Historical Park and Museum, on whose property this archaeological site is located, was able to easily access all the artifacts in this collection.

Developing a Searchable Shipwreck Database for Maryland

• Partner: Maryland Historical Trust
• Student: Bridget McVae

Bridget worked with data, including paper, microfilm and photographs at the National and State Archives and the U.S. Coast Guard’s Office of the Historian, to locate references to shipwrecks in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries within Maryland. (The Atlantic Coast had already been completed.) In addition, previous files and documents collected by and donated to the Office of Archaeology were synthesized and incorporated into this research. The corpus of all these materials was used to create a shipwreck database that researchers can search using numerous variables. Bridget tested the database by developing a paper for an actual project to take place in Baltimore Harbor and presented the results at the Mid-Atlantic Archaeological Conference in March 2005. Not only did she gain research experience in utilizing diverse resources and facilities, Bridget’s project was also accepted for credit as an independent study by St. Mary’s College of Maryland, an IMPART partner institution. The State benefited greatly by obtaining crucial information in making the information more accessible to staff and researchers; results not otherwise possible without the expenditure of severely limited staff time.

Financial Assistance and Easements

• Partner: Maryland Historical Trust
• Student: Catherine Brown

Catherine Brown has a Bachelor’s Degree in Art History from Goucher College and was pursuing a Master’s Degree in Community Planning, with a Certificate in Historic Preservation at the University of Maryland. While with the Maryland Historical Trust (MHT), Catherine assisted the Financial Assistance and Easements unit (FA&E) of the Office of Preservation Services. The goal was two-fold: MHT wanted to teach a student what their mission and responsibilities to historic preservation are for Maryland as the State Historic Preservation Office, but also to introduce them to their methods for achieving this mission, thereby providing them with tools they could use in their studies and their career.

Ms. Brown assisted FA&E on several assignments to achieve this goal. She participated in the Capital Grant Program threshold review process for prospective Capital Grants, which allowed her to better understand the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation and their application. She also provided support for the inspection of work-in-progress and photographic documentation for these inspections on MHT easement properties and potential easement properties. In developing her understanding of preservation easements and the National Register of Historic Places, she evaluated historical deeds and other title information, and provided extensive file research and database data-entry.

Project research, documentation and evaluation was performed by Catherine Brown, providing FA&E with advancement of several rehabilitation projects and updating of their databases. Ms. Brown developed a strong comprehension of the legal and political elements as well as the hands-on components of historic preservation. Specifically, Ms. Brown prepared Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties forms, Determination of Eligibility forms for the National Register of Historic Places, and Easement Inspection forms for approximately eight historic properties. She reviewed title documents, potential grants projects and potential bond bill projects. She participated in property inspections and provided photographic documentation of properties. Though certainly not least, she provided extensive hard-file and database research, and data entry in MS Excel and MS Access.

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

• 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

• 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.

Digital Conversion of the 1877 Atlas

• Partner: Salisbury University
• Student: Suzanne McArdle and Lisa Robinson

During the spring of 2005, two student interns in the Department of Geography and Geosciences were funded through an IMPART assistantship to create digital data for Dorchester County, Maryland. This project sought to convert Dorchester County election district maps in The 1877 Atlases and Other Early Maps of the Eastern Shore of Maryland, to a digital format.

Preparation for the digitization of the districts and their features began by scanning the thirteen election districts in Dorchester and saving them as TIFF files. The interns were then able to add the images into Geographic Information Systems software, where they could be used as a guide for data capture. ArcView 3.3 was the GIS software used to digitize a variety of features and their attributes. A total of 3,324 structures and their attributes were collected, including owner name and structure type (i.e. mill, silo, church). Line features collected included roads, railroads, rivers and district boundaries, and corresponding annotation. The digital product created by students will be included in our existing American Origins Project: 1877 Atlas website, http://geoweb.salisbury.edu/website/1877.

Archaeological Teaching Collection

• Partner: Salisbury University
• Student: Natasha Jones and Alexander Beebe-Giudice

The purpose of this project was to convert the substantial number of unprovenienced prehistoric and historic artifacts currently in the care of the Nabb Center for Delmarva History and Culture into a formal teaching collection, which will be used to provide students working in the archaeology lab with comparative examples and as a teaching aid for courses and outreach presentations. Ms. Jones focused on the identification, cataloging, and final organization of the artifacts. Mr. Beebe-Giudice was primarily responsible for curation, and was trained in basic artifact identification and cataloging.

Ms. Jones first organized the artifacts into logical groups in order to prepare them for cataloging. She and Mr. Beebe-Giudice then discussed how to arrange the collection to make it accessible and meaningful for future students, following that with an exploration of options for storage and display of the artifacts. In addition to these tasks, they also labeled the artifacts, created identifying tags for groups of similar artifacts, and developed an Access database for the catalog.

Working with this specific collection of artifacts was both challenging and valuable for Ms. Jones as it had many items she had not previously worked with, including 19th century ceramics and diagnostic shards of prehistoric pottery. Cataloging many of the artifacts required becoming familiar with a wider range of sources for identification of these item types, which expanded her ability to identify a larger array of artifacts from a longer time period.

The collection and the process of organizing and preparing it for use as a teaching tool offered additional challenges. Some of these challenges centered on the methods and technology used in preparing them, such as the problem encountered with the labeling ink and base coat. Solving this particular problem required communication with the Maryland Archaeological Conservation (MAC) Lab.

Overall, the planning, implementation, problem solving, and communication that this project required provided hands-on experience and the opportunity to translate abstract academic knowledge into real-world situations. As such, it was a significant addition to Ms. Jones’ and Mr. Beebe-Giudice’s undergraduate educations and good preparation for graduate studies and eventual professional work in the field of Archaeology.

Digital Finders Guides for Archaeology in Annapolis

• Partner: University of Maryland College Park
• Student: Amelia G. Chisholm

Archaeology in Annapolis was founded in 1981 by Historic Annapolis Foundation and the University of Maryland. Its purpose was to excavate and save archaeological sites in the Historic District of the State’s Capital city for scholarly research and in the public interest. About 750,000 artifacts have been collected from 70 sites. These figures represent the totals from Archaeology in Annapolis and work done by Historic Annapolis Foundation from the early 1960s.

The archaeological collections are stored in 1200 boxes in climate controlled conditions in Annapolis and are curated by Historic Annapolis Foundation. The collection of artifacts is accompanied by a complete collection of site reports. The collection of paper records includes primary excavation notes, unit profiles, photographs, unit descriptions, maps, as well as the digital materials that accompany all of these.

Amelia Chisholm created two integrated Finders Guides to these two separate but linked collections. She made a guide to the archaeological collections using site number and name. The guide lists each of the 1200 boxes by site number and lists bag numbers. The purpose of listing bag numbers is to allow a researcher to find specific artifacts by going to a site report and examining the artifact catalog which lists bag numbers.

A separate finders guide, also organized by site number and name, was created for all of the site reports and most of the primary materials connected to any particular site. Both finders guides are digital and were mounted on the Annapolis GIS website in the course of 2005. An abbreviated version of the finders guide that includes site number, name, and full title and author of the site report(s) appeared in The Archaeology of Liberty in an American Capital, Excavations in Annapolis, Mark P. Leone, University of California Press, 2005.

African American Archaeological Environments: Excavations and Site Reports

• Partner: University of Maryland College Park
• Student: Tonika Berkley

Tonika Berkley excavated in three environments through Greenhorne & O’Mara under the leadership of Dr. Thomas Barrett. She gained substantial field experience, some leadership experience, and considerable archival and writing experience during this process. The bulk of her IMPART Assistantship was devoted to writing the major parts of four site reports. Her major field experience came at the site of a future federal courthouse in Richmond, VA. On this site she excavated pre-Civil War material from the urban environment destroyed during the final Battle of Richmond.

Within Prince Georges County, Maryland she was responsible for the production of parts of three substantial site reports. All three involved late-18th and early 19th century plantations. The excavations involved using shovel test pits and conventional excavation units. An excavation was conducted near The Woodyard, a historic site listed on the National Register of Historic Places, to define its boundaries to prevent disturbance from residential development. On two of these sites, Phase III Archeological Investigation at Willow Grove Property and Phase IA Archeological Assessment of Molly Berry Property, slave quarters and associated archaeological environments were explored. This provided Ms. Berkley with direct knowledge of African American archaeological environments. Such environments have long been overlooked by historic preservationists. Under the new leadership of Prince Georges County there has been a substantial change in historic preservation which has come to value African American historic and archaeological locales. Through her internship with Greenhorne & O’Mara and under the direction of Dr. Thomas Barrett, Ms. Berkley was able to expand her experience substantially in these environments.

Ms. Berkley wrote the historical background, field work descriptions, feature descriptions, and conclusions for substantial parts of the site reports of all three archaeological sites.

Laboratory Assistantship, Washington College Public Archaeology Laboratory

• Partner: Washington College
• Student: Carly Hankins

The bulk of Carly Hankins work related to the cleaning and cataloguing of artifacts. The college has had many field schools in the past and has had very minimal assistance in cleaning the bulk of artifacts from previous years. The assistantship enabled Ms. Hankins to complete the cleaning, coding, and cataloging of the substantial amount of artifacts left neglected due to the lack of volunteers and help.

Another task accomplished was the compilation of a display for the laboratory. It consisted of a survey collection conducted by Darrin Lowery, an adjunct faculty member. The display consists of prehistoric artifacts and gives information about the areas of survey and the reasons behind it. This familiarized Ms. Hankins with the history of Maryland and put it on display for the public in a museum.

While working in the laboratory Ms. Hankins was also responsible for giving tours to the public. This allowed her to learn a great deal about the history of the Custom House and the archaeology laboratory in general. With the information she learned she was able to present it to the public in a professional and educated manner. She presented information pertaining to the processes of archaeology, the history of archaeology, history of the Custom House and Chestertown, and Washington College.

Ms. Hankins did an exceptional job working in the Public Archaeology lab during the Spring of 2005. She was a quick study and proved adept at applying things she had learned in classes to a work situation. She developed a wonderful style in dealing with visitors and giving tours, while her lab work was precise and meticulous. Ms. Hankins worked very well with Jeremy Gibb, another IMPART assistant, and between them they caught up with the lab’s backlog of excavated materials. Her museum exhibit was very well done and has garnered praise from visitors. Carly was a valuable addition to the staff and she represented the College and IMPART exceptionally well.

MAC Lab

• Partner: Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum
• Student: Katherine Cowles

Katherine Cowles undertook a multidisciplinary project at the MAC Lab. In the first phase, she prepared digital maps of several sites that were to be analyzed as part of a NEH-funded project. Katherine used original field records to create maps that showed the locations of features on each site. This helped familiarize her with some of the methods archaeologists use to analyze excavation data. Next, Katherine conducted two documentary research projects. For the first, she collected information about Mr. and Mrs. Jefferson Patterson, using accounts published in local newspapers. This data was then placed into the JPPM Biographical Files, and will be used in a new exhibit about the Pattersons that is currently in planning. For the second project, Katherine traced the development history of a petroleum storage facility in St. Mary’s County, again using local newspaper accounts. The records she collected are now stored at JPPM, and will be used to write a lengthy article about the facility for the St. Mary’s Enterprise. JPPM and the MAC Lab have benefited directly from Katherine’s research projects, while she has been able to experience several different aspects of historical and archaeological investigation.

Point Lookout Study

• Partner: Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum
• Student: Katie Clair

Katie Clair, an economics major at St. Mary’s, assisted Julie King and assistant professor of economics Joan Poor in a study of Point Lookout, Maryland. Katie collected more than 400 interviews from visitors to Point Lookout, asking questions about their visit and their use of the park facilities, questions about their attitudes toward the American Civil War, and what visitors would be willing to pay for additional interpretation of the site. Questionnaires were prepared in English and in Spanish, and the cooperation of Point Lookout State Park was secured. This data was then coded and analyzed by SMCM senior Howard Grube-O’Brien for his St. Mary's Project, and King, Poor, and Grube-O’Brien reported on the study at a conference on cultural economics in Chicago.

Artifact Conservation

• Partner: Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum
• Student: Anna Huttel

Anna Huttel participated in the program with the aim of getting conservation experience prior to settling on a career in archaeological conservation. She received 159.5 hours of training and experience in the examination, documentation, and treatment of a wide range of artifact types. She worked on historic farm tools and domestic implements from the JPPM collections, prehistoric and historic archaeological artifacts from MHT collections, and architectural elements from the Annapolis State House. As result, many valuable artifacts in the State’s collections were preserved for future generations.

Artifact Conservation

• Partner: Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum
• Student: Erin Mulgrew

For her project, Erin Mulgrew re-housed approximately 20 boxes of artifacts from the Oxen Hill Plantation site. The materials from this Prince George’s County site were deemed to be one of the 31 most important artifact collections in the State’s possession, and thus were re-cataloged as part of a two-year project supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional grants from the Maryland State Highway Administration and private sources have been used to help clean and organize the artifacts and enter them into a database. Erin’s work helped advance this broad project. She placed artifacts from the site into archivally-stable bags and boxes, and made sure that provenience information was put onto acid-free tags placed in each bag. Through this effort, Erin learned many of the techniques that collection managers use to properly curate artifacts. This knowledge will help advance Erin’s career in archaeology, while at the same time her project has been of great value in ensuring that an important resource will be preserved for future generations.

Nabb Center Inventory Videography

• Partner: Maryland Historical Trust

The purpose of this project was to create a historical video, approximately twenty minutes in length, of the items found in an eighteenth century colonial inventory, to serve as an educational tool for Salisbury University history students and other clients of the Nabb Center. The people involved in the production of this educational video were SU Graduate Assistant Pamela Knox Collins, (recipient of Md. Historical Trust Assistantship) serving as film director, under the Mentorship of Dr. G. Ray Thompson (History Department), Rebecca F. Miller (Director of Nabb Research Center), and Dr. Frances Kendall (Communication Arts Department), in conjunction with Mr. Bill Wilson and Ms. Pat Taylor of the Pemberton Hall Foundation and two S.U. undergraduate Communication Arts students, functioning as videographers and assistant editors.

During the course of the semester, meetings were conducted by all participants involved in the film process. Schedules were set for collecting data, researching the Handy estate inventory and creating video of these items in their natural habitat. When possible, the Pemberton Hall Foundation members served as appropriately costumed actors demonstrating the use of the 18th-century household, plantation and tools. All areas in the Handy home were filmed in many settings and at different times of the day; as well as the inventory items found in each of these rooms. After each segment of filming the director, the videographer, and the editor all met at the SU Communication Arts Television Studio under the direction of Ms. Cindy Cornish (Manager of S.U. Television Production Studio) and Mr. Ray Fantini (Television Studio Engineer) to log and edit each segment. This schedule was repeated weekly until the film was completed. The video is approximately 14.02 minutes in length.

Artifact Curation and Documentation

• Partner: Historic St. Mary's City
• Student: Caroline Jeffra and Tenley Martin

Three different students worked with previously excavated ceramics and non-ceramic artifacts (glass, metal, worked bone, etc.) from the St. John’s archaeological sites located on the campus of St. Mary’s College in St. Mary’s City. This activity inventoried materials in the Study Collection and computerized the previously defined ceramic vessels and other artifacts and correlated them with the actual catalog entries. This activity “recaptured” the information on the fragment level which will assist in computer cataloging of this collection. Additionally, the students repackaged these items in archivally stable materials. Three different students worked on this project. Caroline Jeffra undertook the work with the ceramics while Tenley Martin examined the metal, bone, and glass artifacts. Ms. Jeffra worked with 5469 fragments of pottery which had previously been sorted into vessels and created a database of these materials. Ms. Martin examined over 1700 metal, glass and bone artifacts. As a result of this effort, all the materials from the St. John’s site that were stored with the comparative collections was rehoused in archivally stable containers and computerized lists of all material involved were created. Results of the assistantship will aid site research and interpretation, and planning of new museum exhibits. This assistantship was supervised by Silas Hurry, Archaeological Laboratory Director at HSMC.

Artifact processing of the Print House Site

• Partner: Historic St. Mary's City
• Student: Laura Wienand

This Research Assistantship was 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 have assisted in site interpretation and planning of reconstruction activities to create a new museum exhibit on the beginnings of printing in Maryland. Laura C. Wienand filled this position for the academic year 2002-2003. Over the course of the project numerous archaeological contexts were processed. The processing included cleaning, labeling and cataloging of the specimens within each of the contexts. The student 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 student learned in depth identification skills to properly describe the objects in the permanent archaeological catalog. This assistantship was supervised by Silas Hurry, Archaeological Laboratory Director at HSMC.

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

• 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

• 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 Archaeological Heritage of Labor in Maryland

• Partner: University of Maryland College Park
• Student: Robert Chidester

The purpose of Mr. Chidester’s internship was to survey the history of industrial labor in Maryland, as well as the amount of coverage it has received by historic preservationists (and more specifically archaeologists). He felt that this was necessary because there seemed to be a general lack of public knowledge about Maryland’s industrial and labor heritage. As it turned out, there was a much larger amount than he had anticipated.

The first stage of Mr. Chidester’s work consisted of spending many hours poring over the archaeological site files and Inventory of Historic Properties files at the Maryland Historical Trust Library, taking copious notes. Once this was done, he synthesized all of the information collected in a report. One purpose of the project was to spread awareness of Maryland’s industrial labor heritage. Toward this end, Mr. Chidester constructed a multiple-property submission (MPS) for the National Register of Historic Places for industrial housing in Maryland. He presented papers on his work at the Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology at St. Louis and the Preservation Maryland Conference. Also, he looked into the possibility of making presentations at the monthly meetings of various chapters of the Archeological Society of Maryland. Finally, he worked with Erika Martin Seibert, the National Register Archaeologist, to design a travel itinerary (based upon the completed MPS) to be placed on the National Register’s website. Maryland has a tremendous amount of labor heritage, and hopefully these activities will raise awareness of this long-neglected aspect of Maryland’s past.