Folktales and Masculinity: Gender Performance at a Southern California Homestead

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)", at the 2024 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Oral traditions of folktales encourage the reproduction of appropriate social behavior. Through migration and immigration, these cultural properties were adapted to accommodate different locations and values, including gender norms as they changed over time. This paper explores how folktales can be used as an interpretive tool for examining how Nathan Harrison, a formerly enslaved man from Kentucky, constructed his masculinity across diverse cultural groups. Through forced migration, Harrison traveled from Kentucky to California during the mid-1800s. After gaining his freedom, Harrison continued moving south until he settled in San Diego County. Archaeological excavations at his Palomar Mountain homestead uncovered an extensive artifact collection and archival work located abundant historical documents and oral narratives that detail Harrison’s interactions with neighbors, friends, and tourists. Folktales can recreate what masculine ideals were dominant across these diverse groups and how Harrison adapted to these changing roles.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2024   •
• Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow