RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS
As a result of the NSF grant, various types of research has been completed from archival analysis to outreach programs to professional development. By conducting this research, narratives of the Parker family and Academy students can be told through a number of interpretations. Poster presentations, lesson plans, and transdisciplinary education allows the information being collected to be shared.
Research fellows Andrea Shiverdecker and Samantha Hamilton we’re selected to participate in the 18th annual Posters at the Capital session located at the Kentucky State Capital in Frankfort , Kentucky. Their presentation focused on the recent discoveries of an abolitionist society and the unveiling of an art installation inspired by the work of German art historian Aby Warburg.
Society for Historical Archaeology Conference on January 11, 2019.
“Persistence of Equality Through Daily Life at the Parker Academy: New Insights From Archaeological and Archival Research”.
Liza Vance
Co-Authors: Dr. Sharyn Jones and Dr. William Landon.
Abstract: The small port town of New Richmond, Ohio has a rich but neglected history ‒ it was once home to a pioneering family and their progressive academy. The Parker Academy, founded in 1839, was inspired by a vision that moved people beyond racial segregation and promoted unity during a time of extreme division. This school is perhaps one of the first integrated and co-educational preparatory academies in the country. In this paper we describe our current archaeological and archival work as part of an ongoing NSF funded project. We draw from information collected in an extensive archive, and a large assemblage of archaeological material culture. We explore how the Parker Academy promoted equality through schoolwork, food, entertainment, and living conditions. By identifying different behaviors in various locations across the site we can recreate a narrative about everyday life in this unusual integrated antebellum context.
“Persistence of Equality Through Daily Life at the Parker Academy: New Insights From Archaeological and Archival Research”.
Liza Vance
Co-Authors: Dr. Sharyn Jones and Dr. William Landon.
Abstract: The small port town of New Richmond, Ohio has a rich but neglected history ‒ it was once home to a pioneering family and their progressive academy. The Parker Academy, founded in 1839, was inspired by a vision that moved people beyond racial segregation and promoted unity during a time of extreme division. This school is perhaps one of the first integrated and co-educational preparatory academies in the country. In this paper we describe our current archaeological and archival work as part of an ongoing NSF funded project. We draw from information collected in an extensive archive, and a large assemblage of archaeological material culture. We explore how the Parker Academy promoted equality through schoolwork, food, entertainment, and living conditions. By identifying different behaviors in various locations across the site we can recreate a narrative about everyday life in this unusual integrated antebellum context.
The research fellows of the Parker Academy NSF REU participated in the 2018 and 2019 Northern Kentucky University Celebration of Research and Creativity. Using their year long in-depth work on the archival records, the team completed presentation posters and presentations highlighting and exhibiting the diligent work of the fellows in the archives.
The research fellows of the Parker Academy NSF REU participated in the 2018 and 2019 Northern Kentucky University Celebration of Research and Creativity. Using their year long in-depth work on the archival records, the team completed presentation posters and presentations highlighting and exhibiting the diligent work of the fellows in the archives.
The 2019 Kentucky Heritage Council had their 36th annual archaeology conference at Northern Kentucky University, and the fellows of the Parker Academy NSF REU gave a spectacular performance with their oral presentations.
Kentucky Place Session at the 36th Annual KHC Archaeology Conference on March 1, 2019 ~ Liza Vance
“Unearthing Resistance through Educational Equality: A Brief Look into Daily Life at the Parker Academy from Personal Correspondence and Material Culture”.
Abstract: While the Ohio River was often the dividing line between slavery and freedom, resistance to racial prejudice was not uncommon along its banks. A vision of its founders, Daniel and Priscilla Parker, the Parker Academy fought against slavery with equal education. Established in 1839, it is believed to be the first school in the United States to offer fully integrated and co-educational classrooms. Many of the Academy’s lessons crossed racial borders and were boldly implemented in Kentucky through former students. Through a multidisciplinary project funded by the National Science Foundation, research into how daily life promoted equality is obtained from archival and archaeological evidence.
The Parker Academy: Boundary Breaking,
Transdisciplinary and the Creation of a “Memory Atlas” ~ Andrea Shiverdecker
Abstract: In July of 2017, a National Science Foundation REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) grant was awarded to Northern Kentucky University’s Parker Academy transdisciplinary team; a group of scholars and students from the disciplines of Anthropology, Archaeology, Geography, History and Public History. Andrea Shiverdecker, an undergraduate Parker REU Fellow will share how her experiences helped to shape and expand her intellectual horizons. Her transdisciplinary work, which brought to bear methods which crossed traditional disciplinary boundaries, allowed her to gain deep insights into the abolitionist movement in the Ohio River Valley. Moreover, Andrea will illustrate how her transdisciplinary work was made both visible and tangible in a unique installation. Andrea’s “Memory Atlas”, modelled after Aby Warburg’s “Mnemosyne Atlas”, used images (visual anthropology, archaeology and history) and carefully selected text to re-create the story of the Parker Academy.
Kentucky Place Session at the 36th Annual KHC Archaeology Conference on March 1, 2019 ~ Liza Vance
“Unearthing Resistance through Educational Equality: A Brief Look into Daily Life at the Parker Academy from Personal Correspondence and Material Culture”.
Abstract: While the Ohio River was often the dividing line between slavery and freedom, resistance to racial prejudice was not uncommon along its banks. A vision of its founders, Daniel and Priscilla Parker, the Parker Academy fought against slavery with equal education. Established in 1839, it is believed to be the first school in the United States to offer fully integrated and co-educational classrooms. Many of the Academy’s lessons crossed racial borders and were boldly implemented in Kentucky through former students. Through a multidisciplinary project funded by the National Science Foundation, research into how daily life promoted equality is obtained from archival and archaeological evidence.
The Parker Academy: Boundary Breaking,
Transdisciplinary and the Creation of a “Memory Atlas” ~ Andrea Shiverdecker
Abstract: In July of 2017, a National Science Foundation REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) grant was awarded to Northern Kentucky University’s Parker Academy transdisciplinary team; a group of scholars and students from the disciplines of Anthropology, Archaeology, Geography, History and Public History. Andrea Shiverdecker, an undergraduate Parker REU Fellow will share how her experiences helped to shape and expand her intellectual horizons. Her transdisciplinary work, which brought to bear methods which crossed traditional disciplinary boundaries, allowed her to gain deep insights into the abolitionist movement in the Ohio River Valley. Moreover, Andrea will illustrate how her transdisciplinary work was made both visible and tangible in a unique installation. Andrea’s “Memory Atlas”, modelled after Aby Warburg’s “Mnemosyne Atlas”, used images (visual anthropology, archaeology and history) and carefully selected text to re-create the story of the Parker Academy.
Two presentations were made in the Anthropology category at the Kentucky Academy of Science’s Annual Conference at Western Kentucky University in November 2018 by Parker Academy Research Fellows. Lyndsay McNabb and Delaney Gillum took home 3rd place for their amazing poster on “Uncovering the Women of Parker Academy”. Fellows Andrea Shiverdecker and Samantha Hamilton presented a poster and a first of its kind, an art installation known as a “Mnemosyne Atlas”.
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Uncovering the Women of Parker Academy
BY: LYNDSEY MCNABB and DELANEY GILLIAM, Department of History and Geography, Department of Anthropology, Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, Kentucky 41099.
Sponsors: Dr. William Landon and Dr. Sharyn Jones
The Parker Academy in New Richmond, Ohio was founded in 1839. The school was an open home to many children who were given opportunities that they would not have had otherwise. Parker was an institute that taught many children who came from different backgrounds, regardless of race or gender. The children were all taught in the same rooms and all had the same opportunities. With the murmurings of women’s rights, this gave the girls educated at the Academy a voice. It taught them that they too have rights to educate and to create a difference in society. With the fact that the Academy itself has almost been forgotten, so have the women who so wanted to express themselves. Through the written records of the historical archives their voices and ideas have been revitalized. Historical Archiving and detailed analysis of the students history at the academy show that even before the confirmed start date of women’s suffrage that women were already beginning to realize that they too matter. Because of their positions in society, they would then go on to be influential part of the abolitionist and the suffrage movement.
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Multidisciplinary Approaches to Research and Abolitionism Through the Parker Academy.
BY: Andrea Shiverdecker, Samantha Hamilton, and Cooper Pfalz Department of History and Geography, Department of Anthropology, Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, Kentucky, 41099.
Sponsors: Dr. William Landon and Dr. Sharyn Jones
The Parker Academy (1839-1892) had a longstanding history of being a home for the abolitionist movement. Founded in 1839, the Parker family of New Richmond, Ohio created the first all-inclusive academy that provided education to students regardless of race, gender, political identity, or religious affiliation. Students from across the country attended the Academy. The multidisciplinary approach the Parkers used to facilitate inclusion aimed to establish an all-encompassing educational environment, which was not only fascinating, but uniquely ahead of its time. By closely networking with educators, artists, students, religious leaders, politicians, lobbyists and freedom fighters, the Parkers established a school of inclusiveness far exceeding the standard of the mid to late 1800’s. Spanning the ranges of scientific study from anthropology, archaeology, history and public history, to local historians and educators; researchers have been able to piece together groundbreaking discoveries of the underground abolitionist movement throughout the Ohio River Valley. Investigating the Parker Academy connections and networks through anthropological methods has allowed for new depths in the study of the abolitionist network to be reached. Through researchers’ efforts in applying the same multidisciplinary approach facilitated by the Parkers, it has taught us to utilize resources previously untapped by the constraints of our individual subjective disciplines. While opening our realms of research to new ideas and methods, a more holistic approach allows for a wider breadth of knowledge. For example, an accompanying art installation was composed using the Abby Warburg’s mnemosyne concepts of memory to show and to emphasize the multiple aspects of research used.
BY: Andrea Shiverdecker, Samantha Hamilton, and Cooper Pfalz Department of History and Geography, Department of Anthropology, Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, Kentucky, 41099.
Sponsors: Dr. William Landon and Dr. Sharyn Jones
The Parker Academy (1839-1892) had a longstanding history of being a home for the abolitionist movement. Founded in 1839, the Parker family of New Richmond, Ohio created the first all-inclusive academy that provided education to students regardless of race, gender, political identity, or religious affiliation. Students from across the country attended the Academy. The multidisciplinary approach the Parkers used to facilitate inclusion aimed to establish an all-encompassing educational environment, which was not only fascinating, but uniquely ahead of its time. By closely networking with educators, artists, students, religious leaders, politicians, lobbyists and freedom fighters, the Parkers established a school of inclusiveness far exceeding the standard of the mid to late 1800’s. Spanning the ranges of scientific study from anthropology, archaeology, history and public history, to local historians and educators; researchers have been able to piece together groundbreaking discoveries of the underground abolitionist movement throughout the Ohio River Valley. Investigating the Parker Academy connections and networks through anthropological methods has allowed for new depths in the study of the abolitionist network to be reached. Through researchers’ efforts in applying the same multidisciplinary approach facilitated by the Parkers, it has taught us to utilize resources previously untapped by the constraints of our individual subjective disciplines. While opening our realms of research to new ideas and methods, a more holistic approach allows for a wider breadth of knowledge. For example, an accompanying art installation was composed using the Abby Warburg’s mnemosyne concepts of memory to show and to emphasize the multiple aspects of research used.
One of the most important aspects of the Parker Academy NSF REU is sharing and reaching out to the community about the history of the Parkers with local communities, schools, and the public. The stories derived from the artifacts and archives can be used to inform the community about problems in race and gender equality and the struggle for social justice.
Hughes STEM High School
Cincinnati, Ohio |
Sage Boyer with Hughes students
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While performing research, the fellows sometimes came across difficult topics which needed professional expertise. Using this as an educational opportunity to further the knowledge of the team, external professionals were invited to teach the fellows transdisciplinary skills that are valuable in completing archival work.
