Description: This book presents a rich and contextualized study of the inextricably entangled lives of the enslaved, free Black people, and white landowners at the historic site of Mount Clare.
Brief description: Teresa S. Moyer is an archaeologist with the National Park Service and coauthor of The Making of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park: A Devil, Two Rivers, and a Dream.
Review Quotes: "Teresa
Moyer's book serves as an important bridge between the work of history,
archaeology and modern activism: it gives a structure of how to begin to change
the telling of the past."--Anthropology Book Forum
case study of the historic house museum of Mount Clare plantation is a boldly
put, compelling call to action that embeds in its traditional site
interpretation a more fully developed narrative of its black enslaved occupants.
Her premise is that access to black heritage within the context of plantation life
and its aftermath is a social right."--Journal of American History "In
addition to being a well-defined case study, this volume has wide implications
for the field of public history. Moyer does a fine job situating the history of
Mount Clare within larger historical contexts, and, most importantly, shining a
light on the social justice imperative of sharing more inclusive historical
narratives."--Public Historian "This
valuable book joins . . . other works calling for a more inclusive and just
tackling of race at American historic sites."--Journal of Southern History "In
this well researched and pointedly critical book, Teresa S. Moyer has brought
into view a failure that affects many museums, particularly those of the
Southern United States, but also anywhere that slavery was part of America's
economic base."--Museum Anthropology Review "A
moving and meticulous black history at Mount Clare, and a thorough and
convincing analysis of the role of power in the production of history."--American
Anthropologist