Town and Country: New Philadelphia, Illinois and Social Dynamics Over the Urban-Rural Divide

Summary

The Louisa McWorter home site provides a rare opportunity to explore social dynamics and community relations within the 19th century integrated town of New Philadelphia, Illinois. Louisa, an African-American woman freed from slavery as a child, married one of the sons of town founders Frank and Lucy McWorter. Widowed early in her marriage, Louisa became legal head of household and owner of multiple lots in New Philadelphia as well as several hundred acres of farmland. My historical and archaeological analysis supports the hypothesis that Louisa succeeded at maintaining her household and reveals additional information about the social structure of the rural community in relation to gendered and racialized interactions. I make comparisons between Louisa’s household, others within New Philadelphia, and some urban sites of the time period. Results point to similarities between demographically disparate rural households, but differences between households of similar demographics across the urban-rural divide.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions) 2018   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2018

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 956