Africatown
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Dr. Neil Norman at Public Archaeology Day Discussing Research Methods at Old Plateau Cemetery, January 2010
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From the outset project members adopted the client-based model proposed by Dr. Michael Blakey where community members define goals for fieldwork and approve methods. With virtual unanimity, stakeholders designated conservation, stabilization, and mapping at the Old Plateau Cemetery as the first priority. Several of the founders of Africatown are buried at Old Plateau, which makes it a point of pilgrimage and also potentially eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). After a series of community meetings in the summer of 2009, the goals of the project were threefold: 1) document and map the marked and unmarked graves located within the cemetery 2) stabilize graves that are in immediate threat of destruction, or are a danger to the public and 3) develop an initial preservation assessment for the cemetery.
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Mr. Gary Autery aiding with excavations on his Great -Grandfather's homesite in Lewis Quarter
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In the winter and summer of 2010, project team members cleared brush and monitored professional landscapers, who removed 20 years of overgrowth from the northern fifth of the cemetery. After clearing, ground penetrating radar and sub-surface probing were used to record unmarked graves. Project members then mapped grave-sites, recorded headstone information, and photographed each grave. In total, 1699 graves were documented using these techniques.
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Alix Martin and Shea Winsett mapping graves at Old Plateau Cemetery |
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Megan Victor and Jennifer Saunders excavating Shovel TestPits at the Peter Lee House
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Public Archaeology Day and Alix Martin DemonstratingTotal Station Mapping at Old Plateau Cemetery, January 2010
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Members of the Africatown Archaeological team will be in the field in the summer of 2010 continuing investigations at the Lewis Quarter and beginning excavations at the Cudjo Lewis House site. The project has enjoyed funding from special grants from the Alabama State Historical Preservation Office, Mobile County Commissioner Merceria Ludgood, and the President of the Mobile African American Heritage Trail Dora Finley.
