Weeknights at the Wagner: Landscapes of Enslavement

As an archaeologist, Jillian Galle studies how thousands of small artifacts, from ceramics and fish bone to tobacco pipes and glass trade beads, can reveal previously hidden patterns in human behavior. For twenty-five years, her work with The Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery at Monticello has brought together millions of artifacts, field notes, maps, and images from dozens of sites of enslavement across the American South and Caribbean. In this talk, Galle will discuss the ways she combines archaeological and archival data to model how women and men navigated enslavement in constantly changing social and physical environments.

An evening lecture series, Weeknights at the Wagner, invites experts into our Victorian lecture hall to speak on a variety of science and history of science related subjects. Each talk includes a Q&A with the speaker. Our Annual Member Reception will follow this talk.

Program Schedule:

Museum open until 5:45 pm.

6 - 7:30 pm: Talk in the Lecture Hall.

7:30 - 8:30 pm: Reception in the Exhibit Hall.

The talk is free. The reception is free to current members. You may register for the lecture, the reception or both.

Jillian E. Galle, PhD, directs The Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery at Monticello. Galle specializes in early-modern Atlantic World material culture and studies how women and men used material culture to navigate slavery and freedom throughout the Caribbean and Southeast in the 18th and 19th centuries. She created and directs the DAACS Summer Institute, the first of its kind program for training scholars in material culture identification, analysis , and data collection. She has active fieldwork collaborations in Jamaica and has led fieldwork in Nevis, St. Kitts, Virginia, and Tennessee. She is currently editing a volume titled, Beyond the Mansion: 30 Years of Archaeological Research on Slavery at The Hermitage, and is writing a book titled Fragmented Lives: An Archaeological History of Slavery in the Early Modern Atlantic World.

After the lecture, stay for our Annual Member Reception with wine & nibbles in the Exhibit Hall! Enjoy refreshments, exchange ideas with fellow members, and explore the Wagner's vast natural history collection at this special evening event. The reception is free for current members and $15 for guests.

A dream that keeps growing…

In 1855, William Wagner had a dream of providing free science education to anyone who wanted to learn, regardless of background or ability to pay. Today, the Wagner offers more programs to more people than ever before! Your support helps us provide free education, not only through the museum, but through a wide range of courses, lectures, field trips, and children’s science programs. Donations also assist us in caring for the museum and library collections and in preserving our wonderful building, which was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1990. To learn more about what we do please visit our website.

In keeping with its original charter, admission to the lecture is free—donations are suggested to ensure the future and quality of Wagner's free education programs and to preserve its National Landmark building and collections.

Suggested Donations

$10/adult

$5/student

For any questions, please email [email protected] or call 215-763-6529 x17.

If you would like to check your membership status or become a member, please email [email protected] or call 215-763-6529 x11.

Images:

DAACS and University of West Indies, Mona students excavating at the Papine Estate, St. Andrew Jamaica.

Hand-carved ceramic gaming discs recovers from the Morne Patate Village for Enslaved Laborers, Dominica

1799 Plat of Stewart Castle, an extensive sugar plantation in Trelawny Parish , Jamaica.

Jillian Galle at Papine Eatate, St. Andrew Jamaic

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Wagner Free Institute of Science, 1700 West Montgomery Avenue, Philadelphia, United States