A Homeplace Behind Locked Doors: Artifact Analysis at the Ben Ross Homeplace Site

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "The Archaeology of Harriet Tubman's Birthplace", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Over three years of archaeological investigations along the Blackwater River in Dorchester County, Maryland led to the identification of the Ben Ross Homeplace site (18DO556), the home of Harriet Tubman’s father. The site’s artifact assemblage indicates a domestic occupation during the first half of the 19th century. A close analysis of the collection suggests that the Ross family developed a concept of Homeplace as a space to facilitate identity, autonomy, and resistance. Furthermore, Tubman’s memories of working alongside her father and brothers, as well as the site’s material cultural, suggest a feminine led household that may have been responsible for establishing the home as a Homeplace behind locked doors.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025   •
• The Archaeology of Harriet Tubman's Birthplace

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow