Shovel Ready: Archaeology and Roosevelt's New Deal for America

2. Historical Archaeology’s “New Deal” in Pennsylvania

2 historical Archaeology’s “new deal” in Pennsylvania Janet R. Johnson massive unemployment as experienced by so many people during the great depression was a motivator for the implementation of numerous federal relief projects. favored were projects deemed as “shovel ready” because they could quickly provide jobs to laborers desperately seeking employment.federal funds available during the 1930s allowed for research and excavation of numerous archaeological sites throughout the commonwealth of Pennsylvania and helped launch the melding of historic document research with archaeology . many of the sites selected for investigation had been identified via previous surveys undertaken by the Pennsylvania historical commission (Phc). guidance and oversight of these excavations was under state Anthropologist donald cadzow, who advocated for the solicitation of relief funding by the commission. emphasis on marking and recording Pennsylvania’s heritage from the commission’s beginning in 1913 the state legislature charged the Phc with the task of marking historic properties and events, as well as with the preservation of Pennsylvania’s history (nichols 1967:8). with limited funding the appointed commissioners embarked on their first survey in 1914 to identify and mark existing public and private memorials within the state. this early effort linked the Phc with historical societies throughout the state and provided partnership opportunities for future endeavors, including those with thewyoming historical and geological society,which was based in luzerne county, Pennsylvania. the wyoming historical and geological society,under director frances dorrance,conducted an organized questionnaire in 1924 of eastern Pennsylvania counties. miss dorrance’s successful survey aimed at locating and preserving “evidence of indian culture” and 34 / Johnson drew support from local museums and state and national professional societies (dorrance 1931:73).the overwhelming response and productive results from this initial effort resulted in an expanded survey that would eventually encompass the entire state and ultimately include field investigations and bibliographic research. the involvement of the Phc in these surveys and miss dorrance’s appointment to the commission in 1927 brought a renewed focus on anthropological research (custer 1996:60). the dorrance project evolved into the Pennsylvania indian survey as a joint venture between the Phc and the Pennsylvania federation of historical societies.based on these early surveys conducted by the commission, sites associated with the “early indian period” and the french and indian war were identified as most in danger of being lost. concern for these neglected sites and the survey data at hand provided the necessary groundwork for the commission to mark sites and educate the public. these early surveys yielded important site and collection information instrumental in much of the early archaeology subsequently conducted by the commission with wPA funding (hefner 1980). the influx of federal relief funding beginning in 1933 provided historical archaeology with its own “new deal” in Pennsylvania.the onset of federally funded programs combined historical research,the arts,sciences,and engineering in Pennsylvania with a critical common goal—job creation.funding for archival research and recording of historical documentation was an important catalyst for archaeology in Pennsylvania and would have an impact for more than a decade on archaeology and historic research and on an important byproduct of these two disciplines:publications. feeling the need to raise the awareness of the local community regarding history and preservation , the Phc noted: “the people living near some of the most historic spots in the state have never had their attention called to them. history, like charity, should begin at home. it should not end there” (Pennsylvania historical commission 1915). relief monies to fund Phc initiatives the pool of relief monies advanced archaeological projects at historic properties across the commonwealth,including Pennsbury manor under the civil works Administration (cwA) (table 2.1). Prompted in 1931 by the 250th anniversary of the founding of Pennsylvania,the commission had a renewed interest in the Pennsbury manor site, that of william Penn’s manor house, and an awareness of the need to properly mark the property for future generations . A transfer of 10 acres of property to the commonwealth allowed the Phc to move forward with plans to reconstruct the manor house (Allen chapter 2 / 35 1991:21). Archaeology was conducted in conjunction with the restoration project using relief funding under the cwA (Allen 1991:20). Although this archaeology occurred on a historic site, there is little to suggest in file documentation that background research of historic records was conducted prior to commencing the excavation.Albert cook myers,a well...