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Cited by 12Historical and Cultural Archaeology StudiesCultural Identity and HeritageArchaeology and Cultural Heritage

Dark Heritage in the New South: Remembering Convict Leasing in Southern Middle Tennessee through Community Archaeology

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Westmont, V. Camille·2022·International Journal of Historical Archaeology
DOI 10.1007/s10761-021-00592-wPMC PMC7884100
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Abstract

Despite playing a central role in establishing our current racialized prison system, Southern convict leasing has been largely forgotten by American society. The Lone Rock Stockade Project is carrying out excavations at the site of an 1870s convict stockade in order to illuminate the depravity of convict leasing and acknowledge the sacrifices of the convicts who were forced to work without pay in Tennessee's industries. While the project works to identify descendant communities and manage the dangers of COVID-19, the project's public outreach is focused on establishing the site's narrative as dark heritage, rather than industrial triumph, within the local community.

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  • Westmont's work at the Lone Rock Stockade has shown that archaeologists can draw on their own identity politics to fight ideological battles against groups that seek to marginalize African Americans, thereby sparing African American descendant groups additional trauma while forcing white people to do their own work to correct racist ideas.

    “Westmont’s work at the Lone Rock Stockade has shown that archaeologists can draw on their own identity politics to fight ideological battles against groups that seek to marginalize African Americans, thereby sparing African American descendant groups additional trauma while forcing white people to do their own work to correct racist ideas.”

    From Introduction: Current Directions in Community Archaeology of the African Diaspora (2022) · cites this paper as Westmont 2021

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  • Westmont's project engages with local descendants of people who financially benefited from the forced labor of primarily Black convicts under the Southern convict lease system.

    “Westmont (2021) engages with a different type of community: the local descendants of those who financially benefited from the forced labor of primarily Black convicts under the Southern convict lease system.”

    From Introduction: Current Directions in Community Archaeology of the African Diaspora (2022) · cites this paper as Westmont 2021

  • Westmont aims to nullify the site as a space for modern white supremacists and to build empathy for the historical and modern incarcerated Black population by establishing the convict leasing system as dark heritage.

    “By firmly establishing the convict leasing system as dark heritage, Westmont aims to nullify the site as a space for modern white supremacists and build empathy for the historical and modern incarcerated Black population.”

    From Introduction: Current Directions in Community Archaeology of the African Diaspora (2022) · cites this paper as Westmont 2021

  • Through archaeological tours, Westmont shows how the history of convict leasing at the Lone Rock Stockade set the stage for modern racialized incarceration enabled by the 13th Amendment.

    “Through archaeological tours, Westmont demonstrates how the history of convict leasing at the Lone Rock Stockade set the stage for modern racialized incarceration as enabled by the 13th Amendment.”

    From Introduction: Current Directions in Community Archaeology of the African Diaspora (2022) · cites this paper as Westmont 2021

  • The papers by Jenkins and Westmont show the possibilities that civically and socially engaged community archaeology projects can create.

    “While each paper approaches this concept from different angles, Jenkins (2021) and Westmont (2021) illustrate the possibilities engendered by civically and socially engaged community archaeology projects.”

    From Introduction: Current Directions in Community Archaeology of the African Diaspora (2022) · cites this paper as Westmont 2021

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Research works printed but not linked: 20

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  3. [11]11. Blakey, M. (1997). Past is present: comments on In the Realm of Politics: Prospects for Public Participation in African-American Plantation Archaeology. Historical Archaeology 31(3): 140-145.
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  17. [68]68. Rogers, J. and Hodges, D. (1885). Minority Report, Inspector of Prisons. In Senate Journal of the Forty- Fourth General Assembly of the State of Tennessee. Albert B. Tavel, Nashville, pp. 615-618.
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Authors
Westmont, V. C.
Affiliations
Sewanee: The University of the South (US)
Corresponding author
Westmont, V. Camille
ORCID
Westmont, V. Camille
Venue
International Journal of Historical Archaeology
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2021-02-15
Volume
26
Issue
1
Pages
1-21
ISSN
  • 1092-7697 (ISSN-L)
  • 1573-7748
DOI
10.1007/s10761-021-00592-w
PMC
PMC7884100
OpenAlex
W3130736991
Semantic Scholar
a80dd4041c75c591bed82c5588bbfa30285a701f
Cited by
12
References
80
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 1
FWCI
8.54
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • International Journal of Historical Archaeology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Anthropology › Historical and Cultural Archaeology Studies
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Cultural Identity and Heritage
  • Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Archaeology and Cultural Heritage
Keywords
convict leasing, dark heritage, forced labor, community archaeology, public outreach, COVID-19 pandemic, industrial archaeology

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