Join The Charleston Museum and Drayton Hall for a lecture by Dr. Lindsay Bloch, from Florida Museum of Natural History, on Thursday, October 25, from 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm. In 1768, with an eye towards revolution, Benjamin Franklin urged, “Let us industriously manufacture what we can for ourselves.” In cities, towns, and on plantations, makers and artisans of all kinds worked to produce items that offered a path to greater economic independence. At times, such trades also provided a means for personal independence of enslaved people. In this talk, Dr. Bloch will discuss two crafts: earthenware pottery and shoemaking. Drawing on archaeological materials and documentary evidence such as runaway slave ads and store accounts, she will explain how pots and shoes became material markers of freedom in Early America. This lecture is free and registration is encouraged.
Please note: This lecture will take place at the Charleston Museum located at
360 Meeting Street, Charleston, South Carolina 29403.
Lindsay Bloch (Ph.D., The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2015) is the Collections Manager of the Ceramic Technology Laboratory and Florida Archaeology at the Florida Museum of Natural History. Her research focuses on craft production, trade, and exchange in historic and prehistoric contexts through the lens of utilitarian ceramics, with a particular focus on plantations of the Atlantic World.
–Tidelines Editor