The Freeman Family Of Black Governors: Agency And Resistance Through Three Generations

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Archaeologies of Enslavement" session, at the 2019 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

 From the mid-18th to mid-19th century, African American communities in New England t developed their own political and cultural structure headed by elected officials known as Black Governors or Black Kings.  Black Govenors/Kings operated at the local level and performed several important social functions including heading events, resolving conflicts and advocating for the African American community. Since 2010, Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) professors and students, volunteers, and descendants have been excavating the homesite of one, and potentially two, Black Governors: Quosh Freeman and his son Roswell in Osbornedale State Park, Derby, Connecticut to raise awareness of the Black Governors as part of the historic African American presence in the city of Derby.  Additionally, the homesite was occupied for 110 years which provides an understanding of the daily life of three generations of the Freemans and their establishment and maintaining of homeplace across a racialized landscape.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2019   •
• Archaeologies of Enslavement

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 412