Lecture: The Relevance of Archaeology to Sherman’s Carolina Campaign

Event: Joel Lane Museum House presents a lecture on “The Relevance of Archaeology to Sherman’s Carolina Campaign: Evaluating 55 Years of Material Evidence of Soldier and Civilian Sacrifices in the Cape Fear Region” by Tom Beaman

Time: Thursday, September 15 at 7 pm

Location: 160 South Saint Mary’s St., Raleigh, NC (at the corner of Hargett St.), which is two blocks south of Hillsborough St., not far from downtown.

Admission: For the public: $16; Members of the Joel Lane Historical Society: $11. Advanced purchase is required, and seating is very limited. Proceeds from the event directly support JLMH’s educational programming and site preservation.

Contact Information: tel: (919) 833-3431; email: joellane@bellsouth.net

A lecture on “The Relevance of Archaeology to Sherman’s Carolina Campaign: Evaluating 55 Years of Material Evidence of Soldier and Civilian Sacrifices in the Cape Fear Region” by Tom Beaman will take place on Thursday, September 15, 2016 at 7 pm at the Visitors Center of the Joel Lane Museum House at 160 South Saint Mary’s Street, Raleigh, NC 27603. Admission will be $16 for the general public and $11 for members of the Joel Lane Historical Society. Refreshments will be served. Seating is limited, and advanced payment is required. Please call 919-833-3431 with your MasterCard or Visa, mail a check to P O Box 10884, Raleigh NC 27605, or go to the Eventbrite web site. Be sure to include the names of all in your party; nametags will serve as tickets. Tickets are non-refundable unless we must cancel the event.

The history of Sherman’s Carolina Campaign is well told through official records and personal accounts of the survivors. Beaman will discuss what archaeology can contribute to these already well-documented events. Just prior to the Centennial anniversary of the Civil War, these sites were merely silent sentinels that stood as quiet, physical reminders of a divided past. But in the past 50 years, multidisciplinary approaches of material evidence gained through scientific archaeological research and historical records are giving new voices to these sites. This over half century of research has provided common threads of expanded historical interpretation of events, allowed for more critical documentary evaluation, and provided details for more accurate restorations of physical features. Above all, this multidisciplinary approach of material and memory have provided the most accurate portrait of the sacrifices of soldiers from both armies, as well as those of the civilians of the Cape Fear who endured the final four grueling months of the war and the years of restoration that followed.

Thomas E. Beaman, Jr., RPA, a native of Wilson, North Carolina, has previously been a staff archaeologist for the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation at Monticello, for the James River Institute for Archaeology in Williamsburg, Virginia, and for the North Carolina State Historic Sites Section. Since 2008, he has been teaching Anthropology and Archaeology courses as an Associate Professor of Anthropology at the Northern Campus of Wake Technical Community College, and is also an adjunct instructor at William

Peace University and Wilson Community College. Professionally, Tom has presented dozens of original research papers at regional and international archaeology conferences, and has over a dozen published articles and/or book reviews in Historical Archaeology, Southeastern Archaeology, North Carolina Archaeology, The North Carolina Historical Revue, and The Journal of the New Bern Historical Society. His most recent research has focused on the excavation of Civil War era barracks and fortifications in the Cape Fear Region, specifically at Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site and Fort Caswell.