Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Historic Preservation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council approves funding to study Parker Harris pottery assemblage
Summary
Council discussion and suspended-pass actions included a grant to preserve and study tens of thousands of ceramic fragments from the Parker Harris pottery site in Charlestown and to research the role of enslaved workers associated with the site.
Councilor Durkin described a grant (docket 1393) to support an archaeological research and conservation project focused on the Parker Harris pottery site in Charlestown. Durkin said the grant will support full-time archaeological positions to process, catalog, photograph, and analyze tens of thousands of ceramic shards and will fund consultants specializing in New England enslavement history and pottery production.
Durkin said the project includes a "Jack and Acton" research component examining artifacts tied to a Black man and boy enslaved at the pottery site and noted that two vessels attributed to Jack and Acton are on loan to the Museum of Fine Arts. The committee sought a suspended pass; councilors expressed support for the project and for sharing budget details with colleagues as the work proceeds.
