Community Organizing in Public Archaeology: Coalitions for the Preservation of a Hidden History in Florida

Abstract

Looking for Angola, an interdisciplinary research project seeking material remains of an early nineteenth-century maroon community, has faced the challenges of locating archaeological remains in an urban environment. Public outreach and community involvement in Bradenton, Florida since 2004 has intersected with public archaeology as applied anthropology, service learning, and civic engagement.  The role of the archaeologist in these types of endeavors deserves continuing attention, and community organizing as inspired by Saul Alinsky is offered as a possibility in light of one of the survey areas facing development that threatened the homes of its residents, historic structures, and the archaeological record.  Community organizing is relevant for the continuing concerns in public archaeology for conservation, preservation, and collaborative commemoration of the past.