A Struggle for Heritage: Archaeology and Civil Rights in a Long Island Community (Cultural Heritage Studies)

Based on ten years of collaborative, community-based research, this book examines race and racism in a mixed-heritage Native American and African American community on Long Island's north shore. Through excavations of the Silas Tobias and Jacob and Hannah Hart houses in the village of Setauket, Christopher Matthews explores how the families who lived here struggled to survive and preserve their culture despite consistent efforts to marginalize and displace them over the course of more than 200 years. He discusses these forgotten people and the artifacts of their daily lives within the larger context of race, labor, and industrialization from the early nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. A Struggle for Heritage draws on extensive archaeological, archival, and oral historical research and sets a remarkable standard for projects that engage a descendant community left out of the dominant narrative. Matthews demonstrates how archaeology can be an activist voice for a vulnerable population's civil rights as he brings attention to the continuous, gradual, and effective economic assault on people of color living in a traditional neighborhood amid gentrification. Providing examples of multiple approaches to documenting hidden histories and silenced pasts, this study is a model for public and professional efforts to include and support the preservation of historic communities of color. A volume in the series Cultural Heritage Studies, edited by Paul A. Shackel Cover 1 A Struggle for Heritage 2 Title 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 CONTENTS 8 List of Figures 10 List of Tables 14 Foreword 16 Series Foreword 18 Acknowledgments 22 Introduction: A Long Time Coming 26 1. How History Controls the Past 50 2. A Counter-Map of Setauket 83 3. From Creole Synthesis to Racial Modernity 128 4. Archaeological Histories of the Silas Tobias and Jacob and Hannah Hart Sites 178 5. Material Histories and the Dynamics of Racism in Setauket 218 6. Conclusion: Resistance, History, and Civil Rights 273 References 288 Index 306 Introduction: A Long Time Coming -- How History Controls The Past -- A Counter-map Of Setauket -- From Creole Synthesis To Racial Modernity -- Archaeological Histories Of The Silas Tobias And Jacob And Hannah Hart Sites -- Material Histories And The Dynamics Of Racism In Setauket -- Conclusion: Resistance, History, And Civil Rights Christopher N. Matthews. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Electronic Reproduction. Baltimore, Md Available Via World Wide Web. "Based on ten years of collaborative, community-based research, this book examines the history of race and racism in a mixed-heritage Native American and African American community on Long Island's North Shore, demonstrating how archaeology can be an activist voice for a vulnerable population's civil rights"-- Provided by publisher