Enduring Legacies

Enduring Legacies (Thomas Hochschild Jr., Session Chair) Rory Fallmer. (Davidson College). Skeletons for Sale: Investigating The History of Osteological Collections and Their Enduring Legacies of Harm During the 19th century, private collectors and academic institutions across Western Europe, Canada, and the United States amassed osteological collections through colonial violence and imperialism, specifically via graverobbing, trophy-taking, and the purchase of human remains from the distributors of natural history and biological materials. Osteological collections were assembled, in part, as a means to justify white supremacy through race science that was dependent on the objectification and dehumanization of the remains of marginalized peoples. Building on my work on the origins of the human skeletal individuals at Davidson College, this paper investigates the history of osteological collections and the key figures that contributed to their conception, formation, and legacy. Informed by this history, I argue for an anti-racist, decolonial approach when working with human skeletal individuals in osteological collections that prioritizes humanity, dignity, respect, and the prevention of perpetuating further violence. Maximilian X. Conrad, (University of Mississippi). Touristic Imaginaries and Public Space in a Confederate Brazilian Museum). The Fraternity of American Descendants is a nonprofit organization based in the town of Santa Bárbara d’Oeste in the Brazilian state of São Paulo since 1954. The stated goal of the organization is the maintenance of the historic patrimony of immigration by Confederados, American Southerners that fled the United States after the defeat of the Confederacy in the American Civil War. The organization also contributes to a local museum of immigration – the Museu da Imigração. The museum acts as an ethnic museum, containing exhibits related to the history and culture of the Americans that migrated there and elsewhere in Brazil. However, the purveyance of contentious history in public space and its relationship to tourism complicate the dynamics of the museum. The Museu da Imigração employs a limited touristic imaginary while simultaneously engaging in public discourse surrounding immigration, ethnicity, and politics. Using data collected from the Museu da Imigração and scholarship in Museum Studies, this paper will interrogate its discursive role in public and touristic space at the local and regional level. Donald Thieme. (Valdosta State University). Ceramic change and raw material sources in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, an homage to Mary Stevenson Thieme This presentation will summarize research conducted with my mother, Mary Stevenson Thieme, a museum anthropologist, who recently passed away here in Valdosta. We collected samples from raw material sources in the Valley of Oaxaca which demonstrated continuous use of those sources since preHispanic times. These were sources used by potters at Santa María Atzompa, a modern pottery-producing village six kilometers north of Monte Alban, an important center of preHispanic culture beginning ca 300 BCE. Broad-spectrum chemical analyses using instrumental neutron-activation analysis (INAA) were complemented with x-ray diffraction analysis of mineral and rock materials. Comparison of the combined results with previously published studies of Monte Albán ceramics indicated continuity in methods of procuring and preparing ceramic raw materials as well as in general geologic “provenance.” Collaboration between a museum anthropologist (Mary Thieme) and archaeological geologist (myself) enabled a key contribution to sourcing of Mesoamerican archaeological ceramics and understanding of technological continuity in the Valley of Oaxaca. Thomas Hochschild Jr. and Lorna Alvarez-Rivera. (Valdosta State University). Fragmentation of the Social Sciences: Is a Path Towards Unification Possible? The social sciences are not taken seriously by many students, political decision makers, and the general public. A primary reason for this lack of consideration is that social scientists are not unified in the delineation of our respective fields. Anthropology is often thought of broadly as the “science of humans,” a scope of inquiry so broad that it can create confusion across disciplines. Additionally, social science and sociology are epistemologically synonymous, but sociology is treated as merely one of the social sciences. The deleterious consequences of these issues include academic disunity, antagonistic boundary work, confusion for students and the general public, and less consideration from political decision makers. The authors discuss possible benefits and drawbacks that could occur if the social sciences were restructured, and argue that these changes could result in academic unification, enhanced student learning, and the increased influence of social science in the public sphere