‘The Talented Tenth’: Exploring the Writings of W. E. B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington in Annapolitan Archaeology

Summary

During the 19th and early 20th century, scholars like W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington offered blueprints for other African Americans to follow based on what they think will allow the African American race to progress into the future. The works of Du Bois and Washington therefore provide historical contextual examples for how the practices of everyday life could have been carried out. Understanding what these African American thinkers were promoting, and whom these frameworks would have appealed to, is key to understanding how they could have been implemented in the daily lives of those we study archaeologically. In this paper, the methodologies advocated by each of these authors will be examined to see how the occupants of two nineteenth century archaeological sites from Annapolis, Maryland may have applied the theories of Du Bois and Washington and explore potential the material signatures of each.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Archaeologies of the Written Word: Examining the Importance of Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Literature   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-28,05