Revealing Hidden Histories and Confronting the Segregated Past: the Political and Social Dynamics of Memory in a Coastal Florida City

Summary

Archaeological excavations and presentations are memory-work, offering tactile and visual materials for consideration of the past. In a coastal Florida city, growing rapidly through in-migration of retirees and service industry employment opportunities, there are few aware or concerned over history. Yet the past haunts the Florida Gulf Coast and the expanding interest in heritage includes competitions among historians and archaeologists, residents and tourists, and development interests and politics. Most of the success goes into using heritage to market place but communities, particularly minority groups, recognize the positive potential for commemorating the past, in order to ensure their history has a future. And the contest over the past is ongoing. The swirl of hidden histories and memories are explored for Sarasota, Florida, in terms of race, community, and heritage. These dynamics might presage developments across the USA as American memory becomes great again.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2018   •
• Making American Memory Great Again

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 108