Between 1865-1930, dozens of Freedom Colonies were established near Dallas. Today, most have been physically erased from the city’s landscape due to redlining, gentrification, and destructive urban policies. The Tenth Street Freedman’s Town, located in Oak Cliff, about a mile south of downtown Dallas, is one of the few that persists. Founded by free African Americans in the 1880s, Tenth Street quickly grew into a thriving community anchored by schools, churches, businesses, and social organizations. In the late 1950s, however, the city decimated the community and its business district when it constructed a freeway through the heart of the community. Now, situated at the “Southern Gateway” to Dallas, descendants continue the struggle to preserve and sustain their community. The research presented here details a comprehensive historical mapping project that not only illuminates Tenth Street’s vibrant past but helps support efforts to combat erasure and envision a future.

In the spring of 2022, SWCA Environmental Consultants (SWCA) conducted an archaeological reconnaissance survey on behalf of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) as part of an ongoing, multi-town effort to document and map the approximately 30-mile-long, nineteenth century Hampshire and Hampden Canal. Archaeologists were able to develop a modernized approach for this effort by adapting recordation methods implemented in past canal documentation efforts across New England. SWCA’s GIS staff generated a highly accurate approximated canal route utilizing LiDAR data, in combination with historical mapping, aerial imagery, and detailed notes from local canal historians. In the field, staff successfully assessed the surficial presence, or lack thereof, of canal prism and towpath remnants, along with associated engineering features along the former canal route. Results from this effort will support the National Register nomination of the Canal in its entirety, as a significant example of Canal Era engineering in New England.

Tejanos – descendants of Spanish, Mexican, and Mestizo settlers – have crafted an enduring legacy in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Until recently, historical scholarship has minimized this history by focusing on myths about the 'taming' of the region by Anglo migrants. In 2023, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley hosted the region's first archaeology field school since the 1970s at a rancho dating to the 19^th and 20^th centuries. This poster discusses how archaeology can contribute new knowledge and raise awareness about the region's Tejano and Mexican American culture. Ongoing efforts include working with descendants and the Texas Historical Commission to secure a historical marker for the site. The poster also discusses the importance of field schools like this to train the region’s next generation of archaeologists. Stop by to see 3D modeling and printing of the site’s unique architecture!

Fieldwork at Drayton Hall has taekn place since the plantation was acquired by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1974 and continued through short excavation campaigns to present. A renewed emphasis for archaology is currently underway, with a strategic plan to more holistically explore the landscape and the service areas within the main house. This poster will illustrate the new trajectory of work with updates on recent findings.

Viewshed analysis is a powerful tool employed by archaeologists to understand the experiences of people in the past. At their core, such analyses estimate what parts of the landscape people could see from specific locations. To do this, these models accept assumptions about similarities between past and present landscapes and statistical complications involved in quantification, such as the modified area unit problem. This poster introduces how to use free, online-available spatial data to model and quantify visibility from two iterations of the Ladies' Relief Society of Oakland Children’s Home (now the Studio One Arts center) to explore the influence of these assumptions and complications. By varying th reconstruction of historical landscape topography, the categorization of modern land use, and the definition of meaningful distance, this poster assesses the influence these variables have on interpreting what children could see from institutional dormitories and our understanding of the historical landscape of Oakland.

The general public and bureaucratic decision makers rarely see the value of publicly-funded archaeological projects. The on again-off again I-10 Mobile River Bridge Archaeological Project (MRBAP) investigating 13 archaeological sites in the City of Mobile, includes ongoing artifact analyses, oral history interviews, historic map georeferencing, archival research, and public outreach. Recognizing limits of prior histories, such as Mobile: The New History of Alabama’s First City (2001) that includes statements requiring examination such as “because there never were enough white women” (page 315) and “Mobilians in good times and bad have managed to build a resilient and humane legacy” (page 321). The I-10 MRBAP does just that, while advancing archaeological method and theory, bringing to bear new evidence and synthesizing previous work to write a novel history of the region, enlighten and engage the public with our findings, and honor the People of Mobile Bay.

This paper presents the products of a summer field season with the 2023 Urban Archaeology Corps (UAC) program. Ten students from the Albany metropolitan area trained and participated in archaeological survey and research at the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site (MAVA) in Kinderhook, New York. The students conducted this work as employees of the National Park Service. After a week of learning archaeological principles and methods, field trips, and conducting a pedestrian archaeological survey on the property, each student produced a self-directed research project. The projects included promotional materials for the park, presentations on regional history, and papers. Media the students used ranged from videos to pamphlets to papers. Some of those projects are incorporated into this text.