The Power of Choice: Reflections of Economic Ability, Status, and Ethnicity in the Foodways of a Free African American Family in Northwestern New Jersey

Abstract

Foodways reflect, among other things, ethnicity, status, and consumer choice. Results of excavations conducted within a free black household in an historically white town in northwestern New Jersey explore these issues. Four generations of the Mann family owned and occupied a small house in Sussex Borough from 1862-1909. Analysis of the archaeological resources indicates a dramatic shift in the family’s social status in the late nineteenth century. Faunal remains, tablewares, and vessels associated with food preparation are compared with other contemporary free black house sites in the Mid-Atlantic. This assemblage is found to vary from models generally proposed for free black sites. Reasons for these differences are proposed. The foodways assemblage is also discussed in relation to the changing status negotiations of the Mann family as understood by both white and black communities.