Building A Empowerment Model: ArcGIS, Community Engagement, And The Plateau Cemeteries Of Africatown

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.

Amidst the preservation crisis endangering Black cemeteries and other sites of heritage, it is important for archaeologists and cultural heritage practitioners to make archaeology accessible for community members, especially in community-focused projects. Key to the goal of such community-based projects is the empowerment of the community on an individual and group level. Through the use of digital systems like the ArcGIS-based workflow developed to document historic cemeteries, communities can be educated, included, and empowered to protect and interact with their cultural heritage which has been left vulnerable by structural inequality. This paper will explore these topics through a project in Africatown, Alabama, where archaeologists worked to serve as facilitators of accessible tools and training through public engagement to empower communities to support their own heritage spaces.

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