Rice Undergraduate Research Papers

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Browsing Rice Undergraduate Research Papers by Author "Anthropology"

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    Excavations at the Varner-Hogg Plantation Slave Quarters: 2020 Field Season Results
    (Rice University, 2020) Jalbert, Catherine; Morgan, Molly; Hickey, Kristen; Howe-Kerr, Luke; Merchant, Joe; Bartsch, Kyle; Bhatnagar, Anshul|Custer, Katherine; Devine, Lizzie; Gonzalez, Virginia; Hwang, Elaine; Miller, Victoria; Rasich, Biz; Anthropology
    In the spring semester of 2020, Rice University students participated in archaeological excavations at the Varner-Hogg Plantation State Historic Site, under the project directors Dr. Molly Morgan (Rice faculty) and Dr. Catherine Jalbert (Texas Historical Commission). The project team conducted research over four weekends in February and the first weekend in March. This fieldwork fulfilled the requirements for the course ANTH 362: Archaeological Field Techniques. Fieldwork in this project involved students in setting up units of investigation, learning about soils and stratigraphy, hands-on excavation and materials collection methods, and the recording and documentation of all facets of research. Typically, this fieldwork is followed by artifact analysis and interpretation, but in this year of COVID-19, the Rice University Archaeology Laboratory closed and students finished the course by writing summaries of fieldwork and literature reviews on particular artifact categories and their importance in historical archaeology.
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    Final Report on the 2022 Rice University Excavations at Varner-Hogg Plantation (41BO133)
    (Rice University, 2022) Morgan, Molly; Jalbert, Catherine; Black, Reece; Katongo, Maggie; Blundell, Mac; Ess, Nick; Festa, Natalie; Janson, Bri; Joy, Grace; Landry, Katelyn; Orta, Phoenix; Pickett, Kenzie; Rothko, Isabel; Zaragoza, Jesús Vega; Pearce, Vincent; McBeth, Cheryl; McWeeney, Grace; Anthropology
    The Rice University excavations at Varner-Hogg Plantation, a key component of the ANTH 362 Field Techniques class, took place over three weekends in the spring of 2022. Laboratory analysis and public history studies continued at the Rice University Archaeological Learning Laboratory through May. The class of 12 Rice students worked on a team also comprised of Dr. Molly Morgan (Rice archaeologist), Dr. Catherine Jalbert and Reece Black (Texas Historical Commission archaeologists), and Grace McWeeney and Cheryl McBeth (community interns). Following a previous season of work in 2020, our research focus continues to be on the 19th century experiences of captive laborers through the excavation of contexts thought to have been residences of enslaved people, or perhaps in later contexts to the laborers brought to work at the site through the convict leasing system. Other important aspects of our project include community-based archaeology, museums studies, and public dissemination of research results in cultural heritage contexts.
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    Final Report on the 2023 Rice University Excavations at Varner-Hogg Plantation (41BO133)
    (Rice University, 2023) Morgan, Molly; Bourgeois, Nicholas; Black, Reece; Katongo, Maggie; Gee, Margo; Munson, Nikole Tamez; Autrey, Justan; MacDonald, Jess; Anthropology
    The Rice University Advanced Field Techniques in Archaeology course took place in the spring of 2023, with excavations at Varner-Hogg Plantation State Historic Site in West Columbia, Texas. This project has focused on the area of the site located in what is called the picnic loop, across Varner Creek from the main house at Varner-Hogg Plantation. This is the area of the site where the quarters of the enslaved have been documented. In 2020 and 2022, under permit Texas Antiquities Permit #9237, excavations identified the rubble remains of brick foundations of Structure 3, with domestic material culture supporting the interpretation of the structure as a residential cabin. The 19th century diagnostic artifacts situate the occupation in the middle to late 19th century when slavery and captive leasing took place at Patton Place (what the plantation was called at the time) and throughout the region.
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    Recommendations for Main House Redesign at Varner-Hogg Plantation
    (Rice University, 2021) Sowell, Sarah; Gao, Sophie; Afsan, Hafsa; Jamal, Daanesh; Center for Civic Leadership; Anthropology
    As a community heritage site, Varner-Hogg Plantation (VHP) has been an integral part of transmitting the narratives of enslaved people. Our work on the Main House can expand the exhibited narratives further with a holistic, social history approach. The Houston Action Research Team (HART) designed a six-room exhibit for the Main House of the VHP. Synthesizing anti-racist museum curation practices, history, archaeological research, and existing displays at Varner-Hogg, the exhibition was developed to center the culture of enslaved Texans and their modern-day legacies. Furthermore, the proposed Main House redesign features a focus on cultural independence as a form of resistance. The 6 rooms of the exhibit are 1). an orientation space, 2). a day-to-day life room, 3). a food room, 4). a religion room, 5). an oral tradition room, and 6). an interactive reflective space. The reflection space guides visitors through the process of incorporating the narratives of enslaved life they just learned into larger narratives about Brazoria County, Texas, and the United States, particularly the connections of enslavement and convict leasing to the modern day. The entire exhibition is meant to serve as a collaborative tool to help visitors in the production and synthesis of knowledge. The reflection room is the apotheosis of that collaborative mindset. Drawing upon case studies of other museums, the exhibit prioritizes interactive opportunities, the centrality of enslaved life beyond their captor, and visitor reflection. It is our hope that this exhibit will shift understandings of plantations away from one-dimensional romanticization and act as an educational space for local schools. The aim of this project is to further the VHP’s function as a community resource and to preserve the Texas History of enslavement for generations to follow.
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    Recommendations for Reinterpreting the Main House and Enhancing Anti-Racist Curriculum Practices and Community Outreach Strategies at Varner-Hogg Plantation State Historic Site
    (Rice University, 2021) Carmona, Melissa; Galvan, Jesus; Gonzalez, Virginia; Josephs, Lindsay; Center for Civic Leadership; Anthropology
    The Varner-Hogg Plantation State Historic Site is a state historical site under the leadership of the Texas Historical Commission. During its 63 years as a historic site, the staff of Varner-Hogg has aimed to effectively present the histories of all of the people who once lived there, with effective changes occurring in the last ten years and continuing today. These efforts are driven by the staff’s desire to update the original narratives at Varner-Hogg that primarily focused on the experiences of White landowners, as opposed to the enslaved persons who lived and worked on the plantation. This semester, we were tasked with providing research-based recommendations for redesigning the public history interpretation offered at the site's Main House and enhancing the depth of the visitor experience. We examined over 75 academic sources pertaining to four key areas of research: anti-racist heritage site curriculum design; community outreach strategies; presentation of slavery-related topics at other heritage site; and oral histories and individual narratives from the site's plantation period. We subsequently used the research that we gathered to compile the best practices for relaying complex historical information to diverse public audiences within the narrative of seeing the Main House through the eyes of the enslaved who worked there. Finally, we have included a list of projects that we believe would be beneficial for future study and consideration.