Tracing Relationships Among Buffalo Soldiers in 19th Century Fort Davis, Texas

Summary

The historic archaeology of US cavalry forts in the 19th century allows for exploration of a wide range of social issues and historical questions. Using examples from Fort Davis, Texas, this study analyzes Buffalo Soldier troops stationed there from 1867-1891. It presents results of an investigation of male identified homosociality within black communities by tracing male relationships within 19th century gendered labor spaces. A queer perspective allows this research to focus on the bonds and relationships amongst African American soldiers that did not subscribe to traditional heteronormative practice. Because so often these relationships are obscured within documentary and material record, this paper engages with queer politics that aim to address queer identities within African American communities- both historic and modern.

SAA 2015 abstracts made available in tDAR courtesy of the Society for American Archaeology and Center for Digital Antiquity Collaborative Program to improve digital data in archaeology. If you are the author of this presentation you may upload your paper, poster, presentation, or associated data (up to 3 files/30MB) for free. Please visit http://www.tdar.org/SAA2015 for instructions and more information.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• New Directions in Historical Archaeology: Theory, Method, and Practice   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage