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Forgotten Souls of the Dawn Settlement: A Multicomponent Geophysical Survey of Unmarked Graves at the British American Institute Cemetery

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Abstract

The Dawn Settlement near Dresden in southwestern Ontario was a mid-19th-century community of escaped slaves, or “freedom seekers,” from the United States. In this study, a multicomponent geophysical survey (ground-penetrating radar, magnetic gradiometry, and electrical resistivity) was conducted on the British American Institute Cemetery, one of the two cemeteries directly associated with the settlement, to document the location of freedom-seeker graves whose markers had been damaged, knocked over, or removed during the 1960s due to the neglect and forgotten history of these burials. All the techniques provided useful information contributing to site interpretations, although GPR was found to be the most useful in identifying possible graves. We discuss the significance of incorporating archaeogeophysics techniques into heritage-management strategies and our responsibility to protect historical black cemeteries. Our survey also represents one of the first cemetery investigations related to the Underground Railroad in Canada.

Extracto

El asentamiento Dawn cerca de Dresden, en el suroeste de Ontario, era una comunidad de esclavos fugitivos de mediados del siglo XIX, o “freedom seekers,”—traducido literalmente a “buscadores de la libertad”—de los Estados Unidos. En este estudio, se realizó el análisis geofísico multicomponente (radar de penetración en el suelo [GPR], gradiometría magnética y resistividad eléctrica) en el Cementerio del Instituto Británico Americano, uno de los dos cementerios directamente asociados con el asentamiento, para documentar la ubicación de las tumbas de los “freedom seekers” o buscadores de la libertad cuyos marcadores habían sido dañados, derribados o retirados durante la década de 1960 debido a la negligencia y la historia olvidada de estos entierros. Todas las técnicas usa das proporcionaron información útil que contribuyó a las interpretaciones del sitio, aunque se encontró que GPR era el más útil para identificar posibles tumbas. Discutimos la importancia de incorporar metodologías de arqueogeofísica en las estrategias de gestión del patrimonio y nuestra responsabilidad de proteger los cementerios históricos de afroamericanos. Nuestra estudio también representa una de las primeras investigaciones de cementerios relacionadas con el ferrocarril subterráneo en Canadá.

Résumé

L'établissement Dawn près de Dresden dans la région sud-ouest de l’Ontario était une communauté datant du milieu du 19ème siècle comptant des esclaves fugitifs, ou « chercheurs de liberté » provenant des États-Unis. Dans cette étude, une enquête géophysique à multiples composantes techniques (géoradar, gradiométrie magnétique et résistivité électrique) a été conduite dans le cimetière de l'Institut américano-britannique (British-American Institute Cemetery), l'un des deux cimetières directement associés à l'établissement. L'objectif était de documenter l'emplacement des tombes des chercheurs de liberté dont les pierres tombales avaient été endommagées, renversées ou enlevées au cours des années 1960 en raison de la négligence et de l'histoire oubliée de ces tombes. Toutes ces composantes techniques ont fourni des informations utiles ayant contribué à l'interprétation du site cependant c'est le géoradar qui s'est révélé le plus efficace pour identifier les emplacements potentiels de tombes. Nous discutons de valeur de l'incorporation de techniques d'archéogéophysique au sein de stratégies de gestion du patrimoine et de notre responsabilité quant à la protection des cimetières historiques des populations noires. Notre enquête représente également l'une des premières études de cimetières liées au chemin de fer clandestin (Underground Railroad) au Canada.

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Acknowledgments:

This project would not have been possible without the continuous support of many individuals who generously volunteered their time. We would like to thank the employees at the Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site for their help with our surveys, and Marie Carter, a local historian, for her comments and advice. Feedback from two very helpful reviewers augmented the caliber of this paper. We appreciate their care and thoughtful comments. We are particularly grateful to Dr. Lawrence Conyers for his assistance with GPR data processing and interpretation. Special thanks are given to the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Arts and Science, the Department of Earth Sciences, the Archaeology Center, and Trinity College for funding this research.

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  1. Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta, 13-15 Tory Building, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2H4, Canada

    William T. D. Wadsworth

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Toronto, 22 Russell Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 3B1, Canada

    Carl-Georg Bank

  3. Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, 19 Russell Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 2S2, Canada

    Katherine Patton

  4. Ontario Heritage Trust, 10 Adelaide Street E, Toronto, ON, M5C 1J3, Canada

    Dena Doroszenko

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Wadsworth, W.T.D., Bank, CG., Patton, K. et al. Forgotten Souls of the Dawn Settlement: A Multicomponent Geophysical Survey of Unmarked Graves at the British American Institute Cemetery. Hist Arch 54, 624–646 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41636-020-00251-7

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