Working towards a More Inclusive Picture of the Past: Archaeology, Archives, and Historically Underrepresented Communities in Cultural Resources Management

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Working towards a More Inclusive Picture of the Past: Archaeology, Archives, and Historically Underrepresented Communities in Cultural Resources Management" at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Despite often facing schedule and budget constraints, cultural resources management (CRM) provides a unique opportunity to identify sites and landscapes linked to groups who have historically been underrepresented in both the archaeological and archival record. These resources, found in diverse geographic contexts, reveal the stories of ethnic and racial minorities and the economically disenfranchised in both urban and rural America during periods of significant change. This symposium will present several case studies focused on the identification and association of archaeological resources with underrepresented groups, highlighting the challenges faced and demonstrating how linking the archaeology with archival research can uncover the forgotten stories of marginalized communities. Panelists will also explore how CRM, an often-overlooked component of large-scale engineering, energy, and infrastructure improvement projects, can allow for significant and impactful research into these communities, individuals, and broad narratives – sometimes challenging our overall definition(s) of significance.