by gwffoundation | Jan 23, 2025 | 18th Century Crafts, British Empire, Lives & Legacies
We have a lot of silver in our collections, ranging from candlesticks to teapots to spoons. With all the silver, I have become familiar with eighteenth-century silversmith marks, but I have never explored the artisans behind the marks. I was pleasantly...
by gwffoundation | Jul 24, 2024 | 18th Century Crafts, Archaeology, British Empire, Daily Life in the 1700s, Developing America, Fashion in History, George Washington's Ferry Farm, History of Slavery, Lives & Legacies, Washington family
Figure 1: Ferry Farm cowries Many readers will undoubtedly recognize these two artifacts (Fig. 1). Known as cowrie shells, these artifacts have become synonymous with slavery and serve as identifiers for the presence of free and enslaved Black individuals in the...
by gwffoundation | Apr 3, 2024 | 18th Century Crafts, Archaeology, British Empire, Daily Life in the 1700s, George Washington's Ferry Farm, Lives & Legacies
A quick refresher from part one of the TD marked pipe saga – Clay tobacco pipes with the mark TD are a ubiquitous item at historical archaeology sites dating from the mid-18th through the 20th century. While at one point the mark represented a specific maker, it...
by gwffoundation | Mar 20, 2024 | 18th Century Crafts, Archaeology, British Empire, Daily Life in the 1700s, George Washington's Ferry Farm, Lives & Legacies
TD Marked Tobacco Pipes That Is! Clay tobacco pipes are a hallmark of historical archaeology. Grandma smoked, the enslaved smoked, the elite smoked, children smoked, just about everyone smoked. Smoking was one of America’s favorite pastimes, and there are...
by gwffoundation | Dec 16, 2023 | British Empire, Developing America, Founding Figures, Lives & Legacies
Author’s Note: This blog contains hyperlinks to primary documents related to the event. Figure 1: 250th Logo (Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum) Intro This year marks the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party (Figure 1). Hailed as a defining moment in the...
by gwffoundation | May 24, 2023 | Archaeology, British Empire, Developing America, Lives & Legacies
Editor’s Note: As the two-hundred-sixty-ninth anniversary of the skirmish of Jumonville Glen approaches this Sunday, May 28th, some recent and exciting discoveries have occurred at the battlefield. The National Park Service (NPS) released an announcement this...