Working Together to Reclaim History

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In August of 2020, Colonial Williamsburg’s Department of Archaeology began investigating the original site of Williamsburg’s historic First Baptist Church, one of the nation’s earliest congregations founded by free and enslaved people of African descent. The project has, from the beginning, been a partnership with the First Baptist congregation, and has been an important catalyst for strengthening ties between the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and longtime members of Williamsburg’s Black community. Ground-floor engagement with elders of the First Baptist Church, along with collaboration with church leadership to provide hands-on programming for community youth, have grown into meaningful partnerships that extend beyond the congregation. What began as a project devoted to understanding the remains of the earliest worship space used by Williamsburg’s Black residents, has sparked new connections between Colonial Williamsburg and the local community now and into the future.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SHA 2022 General Sessions   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2022

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology