Hidden In The Hollinger: What We Can Learn From Archeological Legacy Collections In The National Park Service

Part of: Society for Historical Archaeology 2024

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Hidden In The Hollinger: What We Can Learn From Archeological Legacy Collections In The National Park Service," at the 2024 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

With over 45 million objects, the National Park Service (NPS) preserves and protects items that signify seminal moments in our nation’s history. One of the biggest and ongoing contributors to these holdings is the presence of archeology in parks. Beginning in the late 19th century, federal initiatives like the Works Progress Administration supported large-scale excavations across the United States, resulting in exponential growth of NPS collections. Nearly a century later, the NPS is still committed to caring for these resources. Subject to shifts in administrative priorities and changes in archeological practices, legacy collections urge us to reflect on previous curatorial approaches and entertain the research potential they hold for the next generation of archeologists and curators. Using park-specific case studies, this symposium takes a closer look at NPS legacy collections, highlighting the challenges they pose, the lessons they teach us, and how to best care for collections in the future.

Other Keywords
stewardship • Curation • Legacy • NPS • Research • Interpretation • Collections • Documentation • Photographs • Collections Management

Geographic Keywords
New England • Eastern United States • Northeast • Southeastern US • Northeast Region (Massachusetts) • Northeast, USA

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-6 of 6)

  • Documents (6)
Documents
  • Changing Hands: The Impact of Antiquated Acquisitions and Legacy Loans on Archeological Collections (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Mary C Norton.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Hidden In The Hollinger: What We Can Learn From Archeological Legacy Collections In The National Park Service", at the 2024 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. As a response to New Deal construction, the Archeological Research Unit (ARU) was largely created to conduct salvage archeology in the Southeast. Since forming out of the ARU in 1966, the National Park Service’s Southeast Archeological Center (SEAC) continues to...

  • Legacy Collections and Photographs in the National Parks Service: A Look into WPA and CCC Era Archeology (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Laylah A Roberts.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Hidden In The Hollinger: What We Can Learn From Archeological Legacy Collections In The National Park Service", at the 2024 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The National Parks Service has numerous legacy collections from archeological excavations put in place by programs under Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. The two that are most prevalent in the National Parks museum collections are from the Works Progress...

  • Mixed and Matched: Collections Lessons Learned from Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Mikayla Roderick.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Hidden In The Hollinger: What We Can Learn From Archeological Legacy Collections In The National Park Service", at the 2024 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site (hereafter Hopewell Furnace) is an iconic representation of the early American industrial landscape, nestled in the picturesque rolling hills of Pennsylvania. Operational between 1771 and 1883, the Hopewell Furnace iron...

  • Multi-Generational Legacies: The Many Hands that Make Light, and Sometimes Confusing, Work of Legacy Collections (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Catherine S. Grimes.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Hidden In The Hollinger: What We Can Learn From Archeological Legacy Collections In The National Park Service", at the 2024 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Oftentimes, archeological collections will pass through multiple hands, multiple labs, and multiple instances of processing before their final curation. The 1975 to 1986 Boston African Meeting House excavation produced a large-scale collection of over 78,000 artifacts...

  • The Unbearable Weight of Massive Samples: Re-Evaluating the Curation of Legacy Environmental Material (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Shannon G Sullivan.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Hidden In The Hollinger: What We Can Learn From Archeological Legacy Collections In The National Park Service", at the 2024 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Throughout the years the methodology and technology associated with curating archeological environmental samples has changed. Samples are often collected with specific research goals in mind (pollen, soil chemistry, starch analysis, phytoliths, macrobotanicals), while...

  • "Where Are Your Field Notes?!": Investigating Interpretation And Collection Creation For The Great Island Tavern Site In Cape Cod, Massachusetts (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Hayley Malloy.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Hidden In The Hollinger: What We Can Learn From Archeological Legacy Collections In The National Park Service", at the 2024 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Archeology is considered a subject of science. Therefore, as scientists, are we not required to replicate our work, theories, and basic assumptions in order to ensure that our past work and interpretations about the past remain true? While this seems like a basic and...