Identifying with the Help: an Examination of Class, Ethnicity and Gender in a Post-Colonial German Houselot

Summary

The German presence within the Mississippi River valley, has received little attention through archaeological investigation. German outbuildings (as well as those living and/or working within outbuildings) have received even less reflection and deserves to be addressed to better understand what life was like within the American interior for "the help" during the country’s formative years. Bought in 1833 by a German family, the Janis-Ziegler property quickly moved from one centered in French slavery to a system grounded in German servanthood. This study looked at a German owned property within an ethnically French community in American lands through ethnicity, class, and gender to better understand the dynamics between the property owners and those working with pay (servants) who lived and worked the property alongside the family. The goal of this paper was to paint a clearer, more precise picture of living conditions of the servants, compared to those of their employers.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2015   •
• Material Culture, Identity, and Practice: Methods, Theories, and Case Studies

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

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PaperId(s): 362