More than a 'Bones Player': Community-led Reinterpretation of the Brewster-Mount Site in Setauket, New York.

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Brewster-Mount home (ca. 1800) was razed in the 1960’s and excavated in 1982. An extensive assemblage of artifacts was recovered that ranged from construction materials, domestic ware, faunal remains, and more personal items. Recently, a new public history has highlighted the plurality of this home’s history as a site of African enslavement and labor exploitation. Notably, nineteenth-century genre and landscape artist William Sidney Mount had not only painted the homestead, but three of the Black residents of this home who sat for portraits were notably depicted in Mount’s The Bones Player. Of these, Andrew Brewster an another resident were enslaved. This rare occurrence allows us to see the artistic interpretation of what the occupants looked like. However, their likeness (through art) is still framed within the ‘white male gaze’ of their painter, Mount. Recently, descendants of the enslaved occupants of the Brewster-Mount home have partnered with the Three Village Historical Society to reinterpret and exhibit this assemblage: exploring themes of identity, race, and agency. This poster will highlight the reinterpretation of this site and recent developments for this project.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38484.0