A Complicated Healing Process: Community Engagement at the First Baptist Church and Powder Magazine Burial Grounds

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Individuals Known and Unknown: Case Studies from Two Burial Contexts at Colonial Williamsburg" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

As an institution that has contributed to the Black community's historical erasure, Colonial Williamsburg is still working to rebuild trust and right many wrongs. Few projects have made that more apparent than the First Baptist Church excavation and the rediscovery of its burial ground. With the discovery of Confederate burials at the Magazine the following year, we are balancing rebuilding that trust alongside the respectful treatment of those who fought for the subjugation of free and enslaved Black individuals. This paper offers a look at two very different burial grounds and the thoughtful consideration of whose voices should be brought to the table. Further, it discusses the complications that arise when working with a community of known descendants and engaging with stakeholders representing people for whom no clear descendant community exists under other circumstances.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Individuals Known and Unknown: Case Studies from Two Burial Contexts at Colonial Williamsburg   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38759.0