Community Formation, Consumption, and Gender at Camp Nelson’s ‘Home for Colored Refugees’
Author(s): W. Stephen McBride; Kim A. McBride
Year: 2013
Summary
Following the tragic expulsion of four hundred African-American women and children from Camp Nelson, KY in November 1864, of which 102 died, these refugees were allowed to return and the ‘Home for Colored Refugees’ was constructed. This expulsion also led to the emancipation of these refugees by the Congressional Act of March 3, 1865. By the summer of 1865 this ‘Home’ housed over 3000 former slaves who lived in a variety of housing, including duplex cottages, tents, dormitories, and home-made huts. After the removal of the Freedmen’s’ Bureau and the U.S. Army between fall 1865 and summer 1866, many of these women chose to stay in the ‘Home’, since their husbands were still in the army, and help create a new community, now known as The Hall. Archaeology at Civil War and Post-bellum house-sites lend insights into housing, foodways, and other consumption patterns as these people changed from refugees to independent people.
Cite this Record
Community Formation, Consumption, and Gender at Camp Nelson’s ‘Home for Colored Refugees’. W. Stephen McBride, Kim A. McBride. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Leicester, England, U.K. 2013 ( tDAR id: 428370)
This Resource is Part of the Following Collections
Keywords
General
African-American
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Community
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Consumption
Geographic Keywords
North America
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United States of America
Temporal Keywords
1864-1870
Spatial Coverage
min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;
Individual & Institutional Roles
Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology
Record Identifiers
PaperId(s): 190