Papers by Allison Manfra McGovern
Society for Historical Archaeology, 2016
Journal of African Diaspora Archaeology and Heritage, 2019
The recent recognition of a twentieth-century Montaukett home in what has been considered a "Blac... more The recent recognition of a twentieth-century Montaukett home in what has been considered a "Black neighborhood" brings into question the historical construction of race categories and boundaries, as well as the construction and production of history, giving us new perspectives on the histories of Long Island. Along with memories and other input from descendants and other community members, the authors use the methodologies of archaeology and cultural anthropology to understand relationships of kin, kind, and power in the Freetown neighborhood. In so doing, they interrogate and deconstruct the colonialist interpretations of the people and the way they lived their day to day lives. In this article, the authors unpack racialized histories as a method for framing their Mapping Memories of Freetown project, and shed light on the discursive relationship between constructed histories and lived experiences.
SANS Reconnaissance and Intensive-Level Historic Resource Survey, 2018
Historic Resource Survey of the Sag Harbor Hills, Azurest, and Ninevah Beach Subdivisions. This m... more Historic Resource Survey of the Sag Harbor Hills, Azurest, and Ninevah Beach Subdivisions. This manuscript served as the basis for the National Register nomination for the Historic District in Sag Harbor, NY.
The Historical Archaeology of Shadow and Intimate Economies, 2019
Historical Archaeology, 2018
The making of communities is often treated as a quasi-natural process in which people of similar ... more The making of communities is often treated as a quasi-natural process in which people of similar backgrounds and heritage, or people living in close proximity, form meaningful and mutual ties. Missing here is an appreciation of the ties that bind people to others, that are often beyond their own control. Especially in contexts of inequality, communities form because of shared interests in perpetuating, dismantling, or simply surviving the structures of an unequal distribution of resources. This article investigates the formation of communities of color on eastern Long Island since the 18th century by looking at intersections between race and settlement as evidence for how people of color worked within and against the systems that controlled them. A foundational component of the region's working class, intersecting patterns in class and race formation that complicate the understanding of these mixed-heritage Native American and African American communities are considered.
The Archaeology of Race in the Northeast, 2015
This paper describes a program of applied anthropology and history conducted in the Church Lane c... more This paper describes a program of applied anthropology and history conducted in the Church Lane community, a small historically African American neighborhood in Cutchogue on the eastern end of the North Fork of Long Island. The study was conducted as part of a successful effort challenging the rezoning of the community by the local town board. Documentation of the community’s long history and cohesion was instrumental in protecting Church Lane from unwanted zoning changes (from residential to light industrial), and serves as an example of how oral and documentary history can assist politically marginal groups in their efforts to preserve the fabric of their communities.
The Betsey Prince archaeological site is a small household site, located on North Country Road in... more The Betsey Prince archaeological site is a small household site, located on North Country Road in the wilderness of Rocky Point, that was occupied during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. As many as eight free people of color lived in the house at one point, and other free black households were established nearby. In this article, multiple lines of evidence are used to reconstruct the history and composition of the African American settlement at Rocky Point and the lifeways expressed at the Betsey Prince site. This analysis, which depends on an understanding of the socio-historical context of the site, emphasizes social interactions, labor, domestic activities, identity construction, and the fate of the community.
Books by Allison Manfra McGovern
Talks by Allison Manfra McGovern
Zoom presentation at Amagansett Library
Zoom presentation at the East Hampton Library
Come visit the East Hampton Historical Farm Museum and help map your histories and memories of th... more Come visit the East Hampton Historical Farm Museum and help map your histories and memories of the Freetown neighborhood. Anthropologists will be there to collect oral histories about the neighborhood, and to collect feedback about community ideas for restoring and interpreting the Fowler house and homelot.
Uploads
Papers by Allison Manfra McGovern
Books by Allison Manfra McGovern
Talks by Allison Manfra McGovern