The Bird Homestead and Meeting House Conservancy and Lewis Latimer House Museum co-present: "Exploring Hidden African American History".
A series of three virtual presentations on three 19th-century Free Black communities in the New York region, these presentations accompany the excavation of archaeological sites located on the grounds of the Meeting House from July 25 to August 3. These sites of former buildings in Rye, New York were once owned by William Voris, an African American entrepreneur in the 19th-century.
For the series' second event, Eugene Boesch, PhD, will speak on the 19th century African American community known as ‘The Hills’. The Hills is a significant Westchester County historic resource. Archaeology undertaken there in 1989 at the site of the former Gall house recovered historic ceramics, bottle glass, personal objects, food remains, and other domestic and sacred items. Analyses of the artifacts and other data demonstrated that the Gall household engaged in an economically vibrant, middle class, non-agricultural lifestyle for much of the 19th century which at the time of excavations, were not generally thought to characterize ‘The Hills.’ The archaeological study was the first to systematically investigate the area.
Audience:
Adults, Families
About the Speaker:
Eugene Boesch has undertaken archaeological investigations in the Hudson Valley area for over 44 years. He received a Ph.D. and other graduate degrees from New York University. Dr. Boesch’s work has primarily focused on Indigenous cultures and adaptations in the Eastern Woodlands of North America and on Euro-American and 19th century settlement in the Hudson Valley region. He also has worked in Israel, California, and throughout the mid-western United States.
More recently, his research interests have focused on researching and recording to Historic American Engineering Record standards mid nineteenth and early twentieth century industrial complexes for the United States Environmental Protection Agency through its Superfund program.
Dr. Boesch owns and operates a Cultural Resources and Historic Preservation Consulting firm serving federal, state, local government and private clients. He also has taught at New York University, Adelphi University, Vassar College, SUNY Buffalo, Rutgers University, Westchester Community College, and Nassau Community College. A concern for local historic preservation issues has led him to become a member of the Putnam County Historic Preservation Advisory
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This program is funded in part by Humanities New York with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.