Sharing the Story: Developing Collaborative Educational Experiences at Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Over the past thirty years, Poplar Forest has established a strong tradition of public outreach and education as part of its archaeological research program. Recently, archaeologists working in collaboration with Poplar Forest’s African American Advisory Group along with other staff, scholars, and consultants have guided the creation of two new outdoor exhibits. These exhibits are designed to help transform the way visitors connect with the history of the enslaved African Americans who lived and labored on the plantation. Among these efforts is a series of interpretive areas along a new 2.2 mile parkway. A second exhibit seeks to further expand the visitor experience by highlighting the historical archaeology of a Jefferson-era quarter site. This includes a series of panels informed by years of scholarship, which are designed to share the story of the enslaved community through new images, sounds, text, and spaces to more fully interpret the plantation’s historic landscape.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SHA 2023 General Sessions   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow