The Middle Atlantic Archaeological Conference was held this March in Ocean City, Maryland. I was honored to present at this year’s conference along with professors, colleagues, and other professional archaeologists. The paper that I presented was entitled “A Decade in Review: Research Opportunities for Descendants of Public Archaeology Sites.” This research paper highlighted the array of archaeology programs that I participated in alongside other descendants over the past decade and how other institutions can implement community-based programs.

I began what has become a life-long pursuit of helping others locate the burial places of their enslaved ancestors while I was undergraduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). One of the most exciting projects that I worked on was the LEARN Log Cabin Workshop. During the workshop, I helped to physically reconstruct one of the log cabins on the grounds of the Montpelier estate where enslaved men, women, and children would have lived over two centuries ago. 

This log cabin workshop led to my involvement and contributions to The Mere Distinction of Color exhibition at James Madison’s Montpelier. The exhibition won numerous awards including the 2018 Outstanding Public History Project Award from the National Council on Public History.

As the periwinkle begins to bloom this spring at Montpelier, we are reminded that enslaved people often used this beautiful blue flower to help them locate the burial sites of their deceased loved ones, as there are many unmarked graves on the grounds of the estate.  A visit to this vast estate is ready for visitors to take a step back in history and discover the contributions and sacrifices made to our country by the builders of our nation, our ancestors.