Making the Invisible Visible: Interpreting the Plantation Landscape at James Madison’s Montpelier
Author(s): Christian J. Cotz
Year: 2015
Summary
Montpelier was the lifelong home of James Madison, father of the Constitution, architect of the Bill of Rights, liberty-lover, and lifelong slave-owner. Just as importantly, Montpelier was home to a community of as many as six generations of enslaved Africans and African Americans who built the plantation, who generated the Madison family’s wealth, and who enabled James Madison to pursue a life of learning and public service. As archaeological excavations and documentary research allow us to comprehend more about the enslaved community, Montpelier’s Education Department conveys this information to the visiting public. This session will explore Montpelier’s efforts to work with scholars and descendants in order to better interpret the enslaved community and reclaim the plantation landscape.
Cite this Record
Making the Invisible Visible: Interpreting the Plantation Landscape at James Madison’s Montpelier. Christian J. Cotz. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Seattle, Washington. 2015 ( tDAR id: 433789)
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Keywords
General
African Diaspora
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Plantations
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Public Education
Geographic Keywords
North America
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United States of America
Temporal Keywords
19th Century
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): 599