Examples of Public Archaeology and Historic Preservation in Michigan

                Historical preservation and archaeology occasionally make their way into the news, which is actually an ideal situation for both fields. We desperately want and need the public to know about what we’re doing, and news outlets such as online newspapers and social media, for example, are fantastic platforms for that. An example that I’ll provide in this post is that of the Warner Pioneer Homestead and the Hicks School, which received a bit of local media attention in recent years. Then, I’ll write a short blurb about Michigan Archaeology Day, which is an amazing public archaeology event held in Lansing every year.

Tim Bennett’s family has worked on a couple of large excursions in historic preservation and archaeology: the Hicks one-room schoolhouse and the Warner family homestead, which are now both situated in Brighton, Livingston County, Michigan. The Livingston Daily has covered these projects in detail, but only one is mentioned in this paper: “Hicks Schoolhouse Arrives Safe at New Home”, published on June 8^th, 2016. The original location of the school was near the town of Pinkney, Michigan, and was owned by David Keller. Keller decided that he wanted to use the property as a site for building duplexes, so the historic building was in danger of getting destroyed. Keller stated, “I love history and think it's important. . . . I preferred that it have a historical use" (Eberbach 2016). He offered to donate the schoolhouse structure to anyone, as long as they could move it and restore it. Tim Bennett, a local archaeologist, took Keller up on his offer. The schoolhouse now sits on the same site as the historic Warner Homestead, which has been in Bennett’s family for over 175 years (Bennett 2016).

                Physically moving the school from its original property was a challenge in itself; the roof had to be removed in order to move the property to the Warner farmstead. Much of the roof actually had to be reproduced after the move (Bennett 2016). However, the Bennett family is trying as hard as they can to keep the Hicks school in its original condition. According to Tyler et al (2009: 194), restoration is an intervention process that involves “returning a building to its condition at a specific time period, often to its original condition”. The decision to restore a building rather than preserve it should be a careful one, as a structure’s “natural evolution” can be lost. However, if the building in question has had a significant historical past, restoration can be perfectly justified (Tyler et al 2009: 194). The Hicks schoolhouse was the main source of education for the community for at least 170 years, so restoration was, therefore, justified. Restoration specialist Randy Klepinger and his company, Klepinger Construction, were hired to head the restoration process (Bennett 2016).  Additionally, the original schoolhouse property was excavated archaeologically by Bennett, in order to learn more about the materials that were used during the building’s use. The site’s artifacts will be displayed inside of the school, once the reconstruction is complete. Several of the area’s residents have also donated items that were from the original site (Bennett 2016).

                As mentioned previously, the Hicks Schoolhouse now resides on the same property as the Warner farm and homestead, which has been in Tim Bennett’s family for over a hundred years. Like the Hicks School, the Greek Revival Warner home has been restored to its original condition as far as possible. When Bennett bought the property years ago, the house was in such bad shape that restoration efforts were justified (Bennett, personal communication 2017). Tim Bennett and his family live there part-time, while they work on the restoration of the house as well as archaeologically excavating the yard. Every year, a sixth grade class from University Liggett School in Grosse Point visit the site, to learn about the historic home and the Hicks School, as well as the history of the area, and what pioneer life was like. The students also participate in an archaeological “dig”, in which they learn hands-on some of the aspects of archaeological research (Eberbach 2016; Bennett 2016). With its move from one site to another, the Hicks School has been taken out of its original historic context. Sometimes the students get confused about why the Hicks School is on the same site as the Warner farm (Tim Bennett, personal communication 2017). At any rate, both the Hicks School and the Warner homestead are great pieces of Michigan history, and overall, restoring both buildings has been beneficial to the public. Although neither the Hicks School site nor the Warner Homestead are registered on the National Register for Historic Places in Michigan, both original sites are registered as archaeological sites through the SHPO of Michigan. The Bennett family run a website for the Warner Homestead: http://www.warnerhomestead.com/

                I volunteered with the Bennet family a few times – once at the Hicks School site in Pinkney (after the school was moved), and twice for the student dig at the Warner Homestead (2016 and 2017). Although I’m not very experienced with public archaeology yet, the experiences that I gained during the student digs were incredibly rewarding. Being sixth graders, the kids are always inquisitive – they ask questions, sometimes in ways that you wouldn’t expect. During the dig, we helped them learn what artifacts looked like, what they were used for, their significance, etc. Maybe, one day, one of them will be tempted to enter the field of archaeology because of this experience.

                Since I’m talking about public archaeology, I think it’s key to bring up Michigan Archaeology Day. Each October, this huge event is held at the Michigan History Center in Lansing, MI. The event typically lasts all day, and it is sponsored by the MSHDA (Michigan State Housing Development Authority), the Michigan SHPO (State Historic Preservation Office), the Michigan DNR (Department of Natural Resources), and the Michigan History Center. During this event, archaeologists from all over the state of Michigan – advocational, academic, and professional cultural resource management archaeologists alike – set up tables that display their research. There are usually three or more presentations going on as well in the auditorium. Outside, visitors can try their hand at throwing an atlatl (a wooden device that Indigenous peoples used to throw spears over considerable distances) at decoy deer. The event is free to the public, and there’s an average of 1000 people who attend each year. An event like this is incredibly important – regular, every-day people come to learn about the archaeological process, what to do if they find artifacts, and the like.

Tim Maze and myself at Michigan Archaeology Day

                Universities in Michigan that have undergrad and graduate programs in anthropology and archaeology also have tables at the event, at which they display the qualities that their programs have to offer, as well as showing off the research that their students have done. On Michigan Archaeology Day in 2018, students from Eastern Michigan University (namely the EMU Anthropology Club) attended and set up one of these tables. Tim Maze, Dr. Brad Ensor, and I put together posters that outlined what the archaeology field school does, how and why archaeologists do what they do, as well as presented aspects of our individual research. 

Examples of what our posters looked like 

We also brought in artifacts to show the visitors – artifact reproductions, as well as “the real deal” – to use as tools to help teach them about material and functional categories. To do this, we set the artifacts up with a game; on one end of the table, we prompted visitors to sort Pre-Contact artifacts by their material category. These artifacts included actual stone debitage (stone flakes that were byproducts of stone tool manufacture), pottery sherds, fire-cracked rock, and reproductions of projectile points. On the other end of the table were historical artifacts and artifact reproductions, and we prompted visitors to separate them by functional categories. These artifacts included square nails, window glass (fake plastic version – we don’t want kids to handle sharp objects), ceramic sherds, broken glass stemware (again, the less dangerous plastic version), and tableware (an antique spoon). The functional categories included architecture and food service. The goal of the game was to help teach visitors what artifacts look like, what materials they’re made of/how they were made, and what the artifacts were ultimately used for.

                Michigan Archaeology Day is an event for all ages. There were equally as many kids as there were adults who visited our table, and both age groups seemed to at least learn something from participating in our artifact challenge.

We also wanted folks to get an idea of how and why we do fieldwork. On our table, we set out the common “tools of the trade” – tape measures, unit level forms, shovel test paperwork, trowels, etc. On our posters, we displayed photos and maps of the sites that the Eastern Michigan University Archaeology Field School investigated, as well as brief descriptions of the various field and lab methods that took place.

The EMU Anthropology Club

 References:

Bennett, Tim.
2016. Hicks School. Electronic document, http://warnerhomestead.com/hicks_school. Accessed 18 September 2017. 

Eberbach, Jennifer.
2016. Kids Excavate Hicks One-Room School’s New Home. Electronic document, http://www.livingstondaily.com/story/news/local/community/brighton-township/2016/09/17/kids-excavate-hicks-one-room-schools-new-home/90266158/. Accessed 19 September 2017.

Eberbach, Jennifer.
2016. Hicks Schoolhouse Arrives Safe at New Home. Electronic document, http://www.livingstondaily.com/story/news/local/community/brighton-township/2016/06/08/hicks-schoolhouse-arrives-safe-new-home/85611928/. Accessed 18 September 2017.

Tyler, Norman, Ted J. Ligibel, and Ilene R. Tyler.
2009. Historic Preservation: an Introduction to its History, Principles, and Practice, pp. 194. W. W. Norton & Company, New York, New York.