Students from Central Connecticut State University’s Anthropology Department excavated land at Osbornedale State Park in 2010 and 2012 to investigate the home site of Roswell Freeman, one of Derby’s “Black Governors.”
On Wednesday, June 27, the students will give a presentation about what they found during their digs at the park.
The event takes place at the Kellogg Environmental Center on Hawthorne Avenue in Derby, from 11 a.m. to noon.
Black Governors were elected officials who held significant political and social roles in Connecticut’s 18th and 19th century African American community, according to a press release from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
Derby had a long history of electing Governors to officiate in legal matters, act as spokespersons, and preside at ceremonies and events relating to the African American community.
The archaeological project offers students and the community a chance to learn more about the Freeman family through identifying and analyzing the remains of their home and possessions.
The public is invited to attend the free presentation to learn more about Derby’s Black Governors and how archaeology can reveal hidden truths about the past.
The project was designed by CCSU professors Warren Perry, Gerald Sawyer and Janet Woodruff, who collaborate as the Archaeology Laboratory for African & African Diaspora Studies (ALAADS).
For more information on the presentation, please call (201) 734‑2513 or email the Kellogg Environmental Center at donna.kingston@ct.gov.