Patricia M. Samford
Director
Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory
Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum
10515 Mackall Road
St. Leonard, Maryland 20653
Education
Ph.D., Anthropology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. May, 2000.
Dissertation: "Power Runs in Many Channels: Subfloor Pits and West African-Based Spiritual Traditions in Colonial Virginia.
Advisor: Dr. Vincas Steponaitis
Areas of Interest: Archaeology of colonial and nineteenth-century North America with an emphasis in African-American archaeology, archaeological and ethnohistorical method and theory, gender, West Africa, identity formation
Master's Degree, Anthropology/Historical Archaeology, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA. 1990
Thesis: "Near the Governor's": Patterns of Development of Three Properties along Williamsburg's Palace and Nicholson Streets in the Eighteenth Century.
Advisor: Dr. Rita Wright
Bachelor of Arts, Anthropology and Bachelor of Science, Psychology, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA. 1979
Professional Work Experience
June 2007 to present
Director, Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory, Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum, Maryland Historical Trust. In charge of the state curation facility of over seven million archaeological artifacts recovered in Maryland. The MAC Lab also has a state-of-the-art conservation laboratory, as well as an active research program that focuses on the archaeology of Southern Maryland.
January 2009 to present
Adjunct Faculty, Anthropology Department, St. Mary’s College of Maryland.
Teach anthropology classes on a regular basis. Biological Anthropology.
February 2003 to June 2007
Regional Manager, North Carolina Division of State Historic Sites and Site Manager, Historic Bath
Administrative head of four state historic sites in the northeastern region of North Carolina – Historic Bath, Historic Halifax, Historic Edenton, and Somerset Place. Work with site managers to establish short and long range goals for sites, plan and administer budgets, assist with problem solving, work with staffs to plan and implement educational programming and historical research. As site manager at Historic Bath, in charge of daily operations at the site, as well as long and short term plans, including the 2005 Tri-centennial Celebration.
May 1999 to February 2003
Archaeologist, Tryon Palace Historic Sites & Gardens, New Bern, NC and
Head of Museum Services Branch, Tryon Palace Historic Sites & Gardens (July 1, 1999 – February 2003)
In charge of setting up and implementing an archaeological research program at Tryon Palace Historic Sites and Gardens. Responsibilities include preparation of overall research design for the properties, working with research and interpretation staff to plan and implement educational programs for visitors and training programs for the staff. As Head of Museum Services, responsibilities include overseeing and providing direction for the branch of the museum that encompasses research, collections, interpretation, and archaeology. This position supervises the work of nine permanent state employees and over 100 temporary employees.
February 2002 to present
Adjunct Faculty, Anthropology Department, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.
Teach anthropology classes on an as-needed basis. General Anthropology taught in Fall 2002, Fall 2004, and Spring 2005.
June 1993 to present
Consultant, Coastal Carolina Research, Tarboro, N.C.
Identified and analyzed artifacts from historic period sites on a project-by-project basis. Performed ceramic analysis and prepared written report on results for a 17th- and 18th-century plantation in Edenton, North Carolina, an 18th-century domestic site in New Bern, North Carolina, and a 19th-century domestic site in Tarboro, North Carolina. Directed the excavation of a 19th-century former slave cabin in eastern North Carolina.
May 1993 to October 1999
Archaeological Technician, Archaeological Research Consultants, Raleigh, N. C.
Part-time ongoing employment that included archaeological survey and other fieldwork, in addition to artifact processing, analysis, and preparation of site documentation.
July 1994 to August 1994
Field Director, Diachronic Research Foundation, Inc., Columbia, S.C.
Supervised the excavation of three structures associated with the 19th-century African-American community at Somerset Plantation, Cresswell, North Carolina.
March 1983 to August 1992
Staff Archaeologist, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Varied responsibilities including supervising archaeologists, excavation and survey, training excavators, report and budget preparation, research and artifact analysis. Duties also included that of department librarian and extensive training of Colonial Williamsburg interpreters on various archaeological subjects, including African-American archaeology, general archaeology, and colonial American foodways . Field director in charge of excavations at the Brush-Everard site and the Tazewell Hall site, both 18th-century domestic sites in Williamsburg. Additionally, in charge of smaller-scale excavations at the slave quarters at Carter's Grove Plantation, the standing slave quarter at Prestwould Plantation in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, and a slave quarter at Richneck Plantation in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Beginning in 1987, in charge of planning, coordinating and running a special program, Learning Weeks in Archaeology, where participants of all ages worked for one to two weeks on a Colonial Williamsburg archaeological site. Other teaching experience has included coordinating and teaching five sessions of a Colonial Williamsburg Foundation/College of William and Mary Archaeological Field School during 1985, 1987 and 1988. Students enrolled in Anthropology and History undergraduate and graduate classes learned methods and theory of historical archaeology through field and lab work, reading and lectures. Also involved in creating archaeological programs for elementary school students, including an archaeological summer camp.
Between 1985 and 1992, supervised and coordinated in-house management plan for the protection of cultural resources on Colonial Williamsburg Foundation property. This includes assessing archaeological potential for properties through research and testing, as well as recommending data recovery strategies on properties threatened by development.
Spring 1986 through Fall 1987
Part-time Coordinator, Tidewater Cultural Resource Center, College of William and Mary.
Duties included historical research on properties being considered for development within James City County and Williamsburg, supervising Phase I and II archaeological testing of these properties, and the preparation of site reports.
October 1979 through March 1983
Excavator, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
Participation in all phases of excavation at various sites in Williamsburg, including Carter's Grove Plantation and the Public Hospital, as well as supervising various small projects.
Academic Teaching Experience
Adjunct faculty member in Anthropology Department, St. Mary’s College of Maryland.
Teach anthropology classes on a regular basis. Biological Anthropology and Archaeology of the African Diaspora. January 2009 to present
Adjunct faculty member in Department of Anthropology, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, 2002 to present. Taught General Anthropology in Spring 2002, Fall 2004, Spring 2005, Spring 2006.
1995 Team taught University of North Carolina Archaeological Field School, offering undergraduate credits in Anthropology, Hillsborough, North Carolina.
1995 Teaching assistant, University of North Carolina. Assisted in teaching Anthropology class on Magic, Ritual and Belief. Conducted discussion sessions, jointly prepared and graded examinations.
1988 Taught two sessions of a joint Colonial Williamsburg Foundation/College of William and Mary Archaeological Field School, offering undergraduate and graduate credits in Anthropology and History, Williamsburg, Virginia.
1987 Taught two sessions of a joint Colonial Williamsburg Foundation/College of William and Mary Archaeological Field School, offering undergraduate and graduate credits in Anthropology and History, Williamsburg, Virginia.
1985 Team taught College of William and Mary graduate history course entitled "Introduction to Historical Archaeology and Material Culture for Historians".
1983 Team taught College of William and Mary Archaeological Field School, offering undergraduate credits in Anthropology. Saint Eustatius, Dutch West Indies.
Courses Prepared to Teach
General Anthropology
Introduction to Archaeology
Method and Theory in Historical Archaeology
The Archaeology of the African-American Diaspora
Methods of Artifact Analysis
Honors, Fellowships and Grants
2013 Maryland Unearthed: A Guide to Archaeological Collections at the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Lab. Maryland State Highways Administration, $55,337.
2009 National Park Service Preserve America Grant for the County Archaeology Collections Exhibit Pilot Project, $91,999.
2007 National Park Service Gateways Grant for establishing a wood and charcoal identification type collection and webpage, $60,178.
2004 Association for State and Local History Louise Alderson Internship Grant for Historic Bath. Award $2,000.
2000 National Endowment for the Humanities Consultation Grant for African American Research Project, Tryon Palace Historic Sites and Gardens, May 2000. Award $5171.
2000 North Carolina Humanities Council Grant for “Jonkonnu: a North Carolina African American Christmas Celebration,” Tryon Palace Historic Sites and Gardens, May 2000. Award $4665. (co-authored with Simon Spalding).
1998 Getty Institute Fellowship. Funding to present a paper at the Fourth World Archaeological Congress, Capetown, South Africa, January 1999. Award: $3,500.
1997 Mooney Fellowship. Research Laboratories of Archaeology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Award: $1,000.
1996 Book Archaeology for Young Explorers selected for inclusion in Notable Children's Trade Books in the Field of Social Studies for 1996 by the Children's Book Council and the National Council for the Social Studies.
1995 Sigma Xi Grant. Funding for dissertation collections research. Award: $500.
1994 Research fellowship at the Henry Francis DuPont Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, Delaware, June 1994. Study focused on establishing a dating sequence for 18th- and 19th-century English printed earthenwares. Stipend: $1000.
Books
2007 Subfloor Pits and the Archaeology of Slavery in Colonial Virginia. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa.
2005 Bath: The First Town in North Carolina. Alan D. Watson with Eva C. (Bea) Latham and Patricia M. Samford. Office of Archives and History, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, Raleigh.
1997 Intrigue of the Past: North Carolina's First Peoples. A Teacher's Activity Guide for Fourth Through Sixth Grades. Compiled and edited by Margo Price, Patricia Samford and Vin Steponaitis, with Lesson Plans by Kelley A. Letts, Jeanne M. Moe, Danielle M. Patterson, Margo Price, Patricia Samford, and Shelley J. Smith. Research Laboratories of Archaeology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Also available at http://www.rla.unc.edu/lessons and as part of the North Carolina's Learners' and Educators' Assistance and Resource Network of North Carolina (LEARN North Carolina) web site at http://www.learnnc.org.
1995 Archaeology for Young Explorers: Uncovering History at Colonial Williamsburg. Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. (co-authored with David Ribblett). [fourth printing, 1999].
Peer Reviewed Articles
1996 The Archaeology of African-American Slavery and Material Culture. In William and Mary Quarterly, 3d Series, LIII(1):87-114.
1997 Response to a Market: Establishing a Dating Chronology for Printed English Earthenwares. Historical Archaeology, Volume 31(2):1-30. Reprinted in Approaches to Material Culture Research for Historical Archaeologists (2nd edition), compiled by David R. Brauner. Published by the Society for Historical Archaeology, 2000.
2002 The Sauthier Maps and the Formal Gardens at Tryon Palace: Myth or Reality? Co-authored with Charles Ewen and C. Perry Mathewes. North Carolina Historical Review, LXXIX(3):327-346.
2011 Naturalist, Explorer, and Town Father—John Lawson and Bath. Co-authored with Eva C. Latham. North Carolina Historical Review, LXXXVIII(3):249-264..
2011 Being Fashionable on Maryland’s Western Shore in the Late Seventeenth Century. Northeast Historical Archaeology. Volume 40.
Websites
2017 Maryland Unearthed; A Guide to Archaeological Collections at the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory. (website developed with Ed Chaney, Alex Glass, Annette Cook and Gregory Brown) Web address: http://jefpat.org/mdunearth/
2015 Diagnostic Artifacts in Maryland website. (Website developed and co-authored with staff of MAC Lab) Web address: http://www.jefpat.org/diagnostic/index.htm
2015 Maryland History by the Object. WordPress blog at https://jeffersonpatterson.wordpress.com/
Articles in Regional Journals and Edited Volumes
1989 Recent Evidence of Gardening in Eighteenth-Century Williamsburg. In Earth Patterns: Proceedings of the Monticello-University of Virginia Conference on Landscape Archaeology, Charlottesville, Virginia, 1987. Edited by William Kelso and Rachel Most. University Press of Virginia. (co-authored with Marley R. Brown, III).
1991 Pollen, Parasites, and Privies: An Analysis of an Early Eighteenth-Century Privy in Williamsburg. Quarterly Bulletin of the Archeological Society of Virginia. Volume 46, Number 4.
1992 The Excavation of Bailey's Bay Fort, Hamilton Parish, Bermuda. Bermuda Journal of Archaeology and Maritime History. Volume 4. (co-authored with Amy Kowalski).
1992 Public Archaeology at Colonial Williamsburg. Archaeology and Education. Volume 2, Number 2. Spring 1992.
1993 Preservation Planning for Archaeological Resources at the University of North Carolina. Carolina Planning. Volume 19, Number 1.
1993 Education versus Recreation: Learning About Archaeology Through Educational Programs at Colonial Williamsburg. Journal of Middle Atlantic Archaeology. Volume 9:35-40.
1994 Current Archaeological Perspectives on the Growth and Development of Williamsburg. In Historical Archaeology of the Chesapeake. Edited by Barbara Little and Paul Shackel. Smithsonian Institution Press. (co-authored with Marley R. Brown III).
1994 The Pottery Gravemarkers of Piedmont, North Carolina. Newsletter of the Association for Gravestone Studies 18(3):3-4.
1994 Searching for West African Cultural Meanings in the Archaeological Record. African-American Archaeological Newsletter. Number 12, Winter 1994.
1996 The Archaeology Of Virginia's Urban Areas. In Proceedings of the Eighteenth Century Symposium of the Council of Virginia Archaeologists. Edited by Theodore Reinhart. University of Virginia Press.
1999 "Strong is the Bond of Kinship:" West African-Style Ancestor Shrines and Subfloor Pits on African-American Quarters. In Historical Archaeology, Identity Formation, and the Interpretation of Ethnicity, edited by Maria Franklin and Garrett Fesler, Colonial Williamsburg Research Publications, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
2000 Telling Time for Archaeologists. (George L. Miller, with contributions by Patricia Samford, Ellen Shlasko and Andrew Madsen). Northeast Historical Archaeology, 29:1-22.
2001 Dating English Printed Earthenwares. Early American Life, June 2001:34-41.
2004 Engendering Enslaved Communities on Virginia's Colonial Plantations. In Engendering African-American Archaeology, edited by Jillian Galle and Amy Young. University of Tennessee Press.
2007 Discovering What Native North Carolinians Ate. Tar Heel Junior Historian. Spring, 2007.
2010 The Eagle and the Poor House: Archaeological Investigations on the University of North Carolina Campus (with R. P. Stephen Davis, Jr. and Elizabeth Jones). In Beneath the Ivory Tower: The Archaeology of Academia, edited by Russ Skowronek and Kenneth Lewis. University of Florida Press.
2011 Subfloor Pits. In World of a Slave; Encyclopedia of the Material Life of Slaves in the United States, edited by Martha B. Katz-Hyman and Kym S. Rice. Greenwood Press.
2011 Giving Voice to a Silent Past: African American Archaeology in Coastal North Carolina. In The Archaeology of North Carolina: Three Archaeological Symposia, edited by Charles R. Ewen, Thomas R. Whyte and R. P. Stephen Davis, Jr. The North Carolina Archaeological Council.