Abstract
Many African American communities in Maryland have been free since before emancipation. Members of these communities have been disfranchised through silence, denial, condemnation of properties, and through the use of eminent domain. The Hill Community of Easton, Maryland, was founded shortly after the American Revolution and remains a vital environment into the present. The town of Easton and Talbot County produced Frederick Douglass, aided Harriet Tubman who came from nearby Dorchester County, and also produced many White families who supported the Confederate South and the continuation of slavery. This article uses five summers of archaeological work on the Hill performed in concert with the descendant communities to knit together political needs, historical documentation compiled by local scholars, oral presentations, and members of the University of Maryland’s Archaeology in Annapolis to outline a history and alternative analysis for the remnants of slavery and racism often found on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. We use Slovaj Žižek to find an answer to the question in our title: How can there be no history?
Extracto
Muchas comunidades afroamericanas en Maryland han sido libres desde antes de la emancipación. Los miembros de estas comunidades han sido marginados por el silencio, la negación, la condena de las propiedades y el uso del dominio eminente. La comunidad Hill de Easton, Maryland, fue fundada poco después de la Revolución de las Trece Colonias y sigue siendo un entorno vital en el presente. Easton y el condado de Talbot produjeron a Frederick Douglass, ayudaron a Harriet Tubman, que venía del cercano condado de Dorchester, y también produjeron muchas familias blancas que apoyaron el Sur Confederado y la continuación de la esclavitud. Este documento utiliza cinco veranos de trabajos arqueológicos en Hill realizados en concierto con las comunidades descendientes para unir las necesidades políticas, la documentación histórica compilada por los estudiosos locales, las presentaciones orales y los miembros de Arqueología en Annapolis de la Universidad de Maryland para delinear una historia y un análisis alternativo para los restos de esclavitud y racismo que se encuentran a menudo en la costa este de Maryland. Usamos a Slovaj Žižek para encontrar una respuesta a la pregunta en nuestro título: ¿Cómo puede no haber historia?
Résumé
Nombre de communautés africaines-américaines dans le Maryland ont été libres bien avant l'émancipation. Leurs membres ont été privés de leurs droits au moyen du silence, du déni, des propriétés murées et par le recours à l'expropriation. La Communauté de Hill Easton, dans le Maryland, a été fondée peu de temps après la Révolution américaine et elle a maintenu jusqu'à présent un environnement vital. Easton et comté de Talbot ont produit Frederick Douglass, ont aidé Harriet Tubman qui était issue du Comté de Dorchester. Mais ils ont également produit de nombreuses familles blanches qui soutenaient le Sud Confédéré et le maintien de l'esclavage. Cet article s'appuie sur cinq étés de travaux archéologiques sur la communauté de Hill. Ils ont été effectués de concert avec les communautés de descendants afin de rassembler les besoins politiques, la documentation recueillie par les chercheurs locaux, les présentations orales, mais également avec les membres de l'Université archéologique du Maryland à Annapolis pour tracer les grandes lignes d'une histoire et d'une analyse alternative concernant les vestiges de l'esclavage et du racisme persistant encore souvent sur la Côte Est du Maryland. Nous utilisons Slovaj Žižek pour répondre à la question de notre titre : Comment peut-il ne pas y avoir d'histoire?
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Acknowledgments:
Leone is grateful to Professor Barry Gaulton for the Council for Northeast Historical Archaeology’s invitation to write this paper. Kathrina Aben, Brittany Hutchinson, Clio Grillakis, Patrick Kim, Leaira Redondo, Marcella Stranieri, and Alyssa Snider excavated, in 2012, the site of the home of the family of the Buffalo Soldier and explained it to all who visited. The excavation was sponsored by the Board of Historic Easton, Inc. in collaboration with the Frederick Douglass Honor Society. The excavation was organized by the Hill Project Committee: Carlene Phoenix, Priscilla Morris, and Dale Green. Dale Glenwood Green, professor at Morgan State University, conceptualized the need for the excavation. Ongoing research and public engagement on the Hill’s heritage is the work of the Hill Community Project, whose team members include preservationist Dale Green; land-records researcher Cynthia Schmidt; genealogist Lyndra Marshall; oral historians Yvonne Freeman, Clara Small, and Michelle Zacks; historian Lavonne Jackson; and project manager Alexander Toprac. Michael Roller has been Leone’s fellow reader and explorer of the work of Slovaj Žižek and suggested to Leone A Plague of Fantasies and Less than Nothing. Mary Furlong helped with the production of this paper and confirmed that it needed an ending.
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Leone, M.P., Jenkins, T., Woehlke, S. et al. How Can There Be No History?. Hist Arch 53, 674–685 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41636-019-00199-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41636-019-00199-3