Memory Activism, Archaeology, Reparative Heritage, and Human Rights at Catoctin Furnace - 1972 to 2023

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Retrospective: 50 Years Of Research And Changing Narratives At Catoctin Furnace, Maryland", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

On February 11, 1972, Catoctin Furnace was inscribed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the Catoctin Furnace Historical Society, Inc., was chartered on February 8, 1973. An initial cultural resources study undertaken by Contract Archaeology, Inc., of Alexandria, Virginia, in 1971, as well as the National Register nomination form, are remarkable in the omission of any mention of enslaved workers. In fact, the majority of furnace workers between 1776 and 1840 were enslaved Africans, and the furnace owners were the largest slaveholders in Frederick County. During the ensuing 50 years, archaeological, architectural, cultural landscape, forensic anthropological, aDNA, geomorphological, and related studies have focused attention on the role of enslaved and freed African American workers, fueled by the discovery of an African American cemetery in 1979 during a Phase I survey.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023   •
• Retrospective: 50 Years Of Research And Changing Narratives At Catoctin Furnace, Maryland

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow