Cope Hook and a Slate Pencil: Understanding Skidaway Island’s Benedictine Monks and Freedmen School Students

Summary

Skidaway Island’s Benedictine monastery and Freedmen school provides us with a unique opportunity to examine one angle of African-American life post-Reconstruction. Located southeast of Savannah, Georgia, this mission was part of the larger Benedictine presence, whose members initially started Freedmen schools at the Bishop’s request. Though this site was only briefly occupied (1878- ca. 1890s), we are gaining insight into the lives of the European-born Benedictine monks, African-American Benedictines, and African-American students. What were the daily rhythms of life in the monastery and school? Were residents isolated or were they fully integrated into the Savannah markets and society? We examine how each group influenced each other, the conflicts present, and why the mission ultimately failed.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Beyond and Between the Plantation; The Archaeology of "Everything But" in the American Southeast   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2018

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 227