A Proposal for Investigating Identity, Class, and Labor in Washington State Worker Settlements

Summary

This paper will propose research to address the formation of ethnic identity and class consciousness as manifested in the material remains of workers and administrators in Washington State working camps. From the mid-1800s to the Great Depression, logging and mining camps and company towns formed a critical part of Washington’s and the Pacific Northwest’s economies. The archaeology of labor-related sites in this region and period has been historically under-researched, and the relationship between ethnic identity, class consciousness, and the material culture of workers in industrial settings is a topic of interest to historical archaeology. Thus, investigating late 19th to early 20th century labor in Washington’s peripheral settlements will improve our understanding of local history and the social context of work. Here I will review prior work on labor, and then propose future avenues of research to address its social context and material relationship to ethnicity and class in the region.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Miners, Loggers, Farmers, and Hunters: Investigating Labor in North American History   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2015

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 583