Archaeology and Stewardship of a City Park: The Making of the First D.C. Archaeology Month Poster

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Archaeology in the Community:15 Years of Archaeology Service", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Kalorama Park, in Northwest, Washington, D.C, was the subject for the inaugural D.C. Archaeology Month poster for 2024, spearheaded by Archaeology in the Community. Park investigations have provided information about the 19th century Little Estate, the family that resided there and including the formerly enslaved. In particular, the young Hortense Prout, who attempted to escape enslaved life during the Civil War. The National Register-listed site offers entry into conversations about the Civil War-era landscape of Washington, slavery in the Nation’s Capital, family life, and site stewardship. The Little family would preside over their estate for over half a century; no less than three generations of the Prout family made this their home. The site has been an inspiration: the neighborhood has become fierce stewards and it’s the focus of AITC’s open access curriculum. This paper presents the archaeology of Kalorama Park and discusses how the site continues to inspire.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025   •
• Archaeology in the Community:15 Years of Archaeology Service

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow