Jefferson's Poplar Forest

by Heath, Barbara J.; Gary, Jack

• ISBN13: 9780813039886
• ISBN10: 0813039886
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-05-27
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Florida

Summary

One hundred years in the life of a founding father's 5,000 acre "retreat" "Poplar Forest embodies the culmination of Jefferson's vision of the American agricultural ideal. This highly readable volume introduces us to the people, objects, and landscapes of Poplar Forest in the tumultuous period between the Revolution and the Civil War. Jefferson's Poplar Forestpresents a remarkably multidimensional portrait of the estate as a personal retreat, a designed landscape, a plantation, and a home and workplace for enslaved African American families."-Lu Ann De Cunzo, University of Delaware "With their productive commitments to long-term and interdisciplinary research, the contributors draw upon the traditional themes of slavery and plantation landscapes but imbue those with new energy through incorporating the issues of ecology, identity, agency, and consumerism."­-Douglas Sanford, University of Mary Washington Thomas Jefferson once called his plantation Poplar Forest, "the most valuable of my possessions." For Jefferson, Poplar Forest was a private retreat for him to escape the hoards of visitors and everyday pressures of his iconic estate, Monticello. Jefferson's Poplar Forestuses the knowledge gained from long-term and interdisciplinary research to explore the experiences of a wide range of people who lived and worked there between the American Revolution and the Civil War. Multiple archaeological digs reveal details about the lives of Jefferson, subsequent owners and their families, and the slaves (and descendants) who labored and toiled at the site. From the plantation house to the weeds in the garden, Barbara Heath, Jack Gary, and numerous contributors examine the landscapes of the property, investigating the relationships between the people, objects, and places of Poplar Forest. As the first book-length study of the archaeology of a president's estate, Jefferson's Poplar Forestoffers a compelling and uniquely specific look into the lives of those who called Poplar Forest home. Barbara Heathis assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Tennessee and author of Hidden Lives: The Archaeology of Slave Life at Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest. Jack Garyis director of archaeology and landscapes at Poplar Forest.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	p. vii
List of Tables	p. ix
List of Maps	p. x
Preface	p. xi
"Two Tracts of Land at the Poplar Forest": A Historical and Archaeological Overview of Thomas Jafferson's Plantation Retreat	p. 1
A Brief History of Plantation Archaeology in Virginia	p. 20
Seasons of Change: Community Life and Landscape at the Foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, 1740-1860	p. 46
A Landscape for Mr. Jefferson's Retreat	p. 69
Ceramics and Jefferson's Aesthetic Philosophy	p. 85
Slave Housing, Community Formation, and Community Dynamics at Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest, 1760s-1810s	p. 105
Carved in Stone: Stone Smoking Pipes at Historic Sites in Central Virginia	p. 129
Social Dimensions of Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Slave's Uses of Plants at Poplar Forest	p. 155
Consumerism, Social Relations, and Antebellum Slavery at Poplar Forest	p. 172
Founding Families: Reflections on the Archaeology of Poplar Forest	p. 189
Bibliography	p. 199
List of Contributors	p. 233
Index	p. 235
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