The Past, Present, and Future of Archaeological Research at The Hermitage: Legacies of Larry McKee and Sam Smith
Part of: Society for Historical Archaeology 2018
Between 1804 and emancipation, hundreds of people were enslaved at The Hermitage, Andrew Jackson's cotton plantation near Nashville, Tennessee. Extensive archaeological investigations between 1974 and 2004, led by Sam Smith, Larry McKee, and Elizabeth Kellar, revealed over twelve domestic sites of enslavement, explored plantation dependencies, and probed yard areas and landscape features. This sustained archaeological campaign commanded national attention in the popular press and the discipline of archaeology as it uncovered hundreds of thousands of artifacts related to a century of antebellum enslavement and Jim Crow-era service. Today, the Hermitage remains the most extensively excavated antebellum plantation. Two recent NEH grants have made archaeological data from these sites available to the public via The Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery. These papers look back at the unprecedented investigations and breathe new life into these collections, offering compelling insights into the economic, social, and cultural dynamics of The Hermitage plantation community.
Other Keywords
Plantation Archaeology •
Slavery •
Hermitage •
Plantation •
The Hermitage •
Chronology •
Race •
Larry McKee •
Lithic Analysis •
Ceramics
Temporal Keywords
Nineteenth Century •
19th Century •
18th & 19th Century •
18th-19th century •
1988-2009 •
Archaic, Late Woodland, 19th century •
19th •
1838-1900 •
post-emancipation, Jim Crow, c. 1865-1940 •
1825-1850
Geographic Keywords
North America •
Coahuila (State / Territory) •
New Mexico (State / Territory) •
Oklahoma (State / Territory) •
Arizona (State / Territory) •
Texas (State / Territory) •
Sonora (State / Territory) •
United States of America (Country) •
Chihuahua (State / Territory) •
Nuevo Leon (State / Territory)
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-18 of 18)
- Documents (18)
Post-Emancipation African American Life in the Upper South and South Louisiana: insights from a comparison of material culture from the Hermitage, Tennessee, and Alma and Riverlake Plantations, Louisiana (2018)