University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations Dissertations and Theses July 2019 RECOLLECTIONS: MEMORY, MATERIALITY, AND MERITOCRACY AT THE DR. JAMES STILL HISTORIC OFFICE AND HOMESTEAD Marc Lorenc University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2 Part of the Archaeological Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Lorenc, Marc, "RECOLLECTIONS: MEMORY, MATERIALITY, AND MERITOCRACY AT THE DR. JAMES STILL HISTORIC OFFICE AND HOMESTEAD" (2019). Doctoral Dissertations. 1608. https://doi.org/10.7275/14189307 https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2/1608 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Dissertations and Theses at ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. RECOLLECTIONS: MEMORY, MATERIALITY, AND MERITOCRACY AT THE DR. JAMES STILL HISTORIC OFFICE AND HOMESTEAD A Dissertation Presented by MARC LORENC Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May 2019 Department of Anthropology © Copyright by Marc Lorenc 2019 All Rights Reserved RECOLLECTIONS: MEMORY, MATERIALITY, AND MERITOCRACY AT THE DR. JAMES STILL HISTORIC OFFICE AND HOMESTEAD A Dissertation Presented by MARC LORENC Approved as to style and content by: ____________________________________ Whitney Battle-Baptiste, Chair ____________________________________ Sonya Atalay, Member ____________________________________ Britt Rusert, Member ____________________________________ Julie Hemment Department of Anthropology DEDICATION To those struggling with the American Dream. “While there is a lower class, I am in it, while there is a criminal element, I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.”- Eugene V. Debs ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It would be ironic for a dissertation based on the social underpinnings of success to not have an exhaustive list of people, places, and events that made this project possible. First and foremost, I would like to thank my parents Jozef and Josephina Lorenc for their continual support. Without the massive safety net they provided, I would not have been able to traverse the doctoral program in the manner I did. Your adherence to the American Dream and hard work ethic nurtured a kernel of inquiry that led directly to this project. I am also lucky to have supportive siblings Thomas and Jessica Lorenc who, while astonished at the time it takes to complete a doctorate, pushed and supported me along the way. To my babcia, Maria Brynczka, we miss you every day. Of course I would be amiss if I did not mention my best supporter, Lola, the best dog and companion a guy could ask for. To Dr. Still and the Still family, your legacy was a direct inspiration in tackling the dissertation project in the manner I did. To all the folks at the Dr. James Still Education Center, both past and present, you all played an important role in providing support and outreach for the project. Thank you especially: Janet Giardina, Janet Jackson- Gould, Bill Stauts, Richard Bucko, Mike Panarella, Ray Morgan, Sharman Ebbeson, Marnie Lyerly, and Jeanne Woodford. I am especially indebted to the Still descendant community members, specifically Samuel Still, Kathryn Gaines-Mathis, and Carol Douglas for their continual support. Thank you to Paul W. Schopp for being an inexhaustive source concerning local history. To all the state employees who helped make the project possible: Leigh Germann, Vincent Maresaca, Sara Cureton, Mark Texel, John Trontis, Dave Robbins, and Cristen Piatnochka. To all of the volunteers who helped with the Dr. James Community Archaeology Project (in alphabetical order by last name): Brian Albright, Elias Albright, Sophia Albright, Eric Allen, Annabelle Andersen, Maryann Bacon, Gabriel Boesch, Amy Bracconer, Lakia Bristow, Cody Brooke, Chris Brown, Charles Burns, Teresa Cafaro, Eric Carvajal, Elizabeth Cha, May Nancy Chambers, Betsy Citrolo, Patricia Cole, James Cureton, Patrick Dauria, Jacob Demree, Anita DiPietro, Aimee Eckert-Hosier, Francis Farrell, Kenneth Field, Nancy Foster, Paul Foster, Michael Gall, Brandon Gatti, Domenic Gatti, Christopher Gerding, Sharon Goodman, Albert Hagovsky, John Hanna, Sarah Helble, Lori Howard, Gail Hunt, Ron Hunt, Jamani Ishmael, Jaydin Ishmael, Mimi Jacobs, Alma Jordan, Anush Karnik, Manish Karnik, Talosh Karnik, Cynthia Kelly, Hamna Khuld, Doug Kiovsky, Ryan Knipple, Barbara Koch, Scott Kosick, David Kosick, Asiyah Kurtz, Paul Leichner, Maria Lopez, Cody Magulak, Sharon Malek, Jackson Malmgren, Brian Manser, Isaiah Martin, Melanie Martin, Rebekah Masters, Kristin Masters, Xavier McClean, Margaret McDaniels, Alicia McShulkis, Sarah Miller, Katherine Muller, Valerie Munro, June Palmuren-Fisher, Jaylen Peak, Eva Marie Peak, Steffi Pharo, Hal Pschunder, Raymond Rogers, Autumn Rogers, Shirley Rossi-Rivera, Jacob Royce, Elizabeth Shikrallah, Donna Shrouds, Liam Shrouds, Jacqueline Shrouds, Patricia Shalka, Roni Strain, Elizabeth Swoboda, Jeffrey Thiebauth, Linda Thompson, Julie Towson, William Urban, Carol Von Peet, Ethan Wassersug, Stephen Wassersug, Linda Wills, Marie Wise, Victoria Wise, Megan Zalinka, and Maggie Zlatkowsky. To the v countless visitors and friendly faces who dropped by to see what was going on. I enjoyed our conversations and it helped formulate how much this project meant to the broader community. To all my archaeological support past and present: Edward González-Tennant, Diana González-Tennant, Tim Horsley, Michael Gall, Christopher Matthews, Richard Veit, and Sean McHugh. To all the “shovel bums” who I have meant on my archaeology journey, I have learned so much from you. To Eric Johnson, for keeping me employed during the summer months while I tried to make ends meet. To Quentin Lewis, Paul Mullins, Peggy Brunache, Alexandria Jones, Ayana Flewellen, Tiffany Cain, and Justin Dunnavant for making conferences a fun and intellectually stimulating experience. To Christopher Lindner who got me started in archaeology. To my American Museum of Natural History North American Archaeology family for providing valuable experiences and opening doors for me. To all my special helpers in the lab: Paul Oberheim, Elizabeth Shikrallah, Hope Miller, Horizon Pearl Starwood, Nancy Ko, and all the volunteers who came to our brown bag sessions. All your enthusiasm and energy made the monotony of cleaning and cataloging artifacts a pleasant experience. To all my graduate school folks past and present, you all influenced me in some manner: Eric Griffith, Laya Bautista, Cary Speck, Sarah Mathena, Robert Allen, Finnley Allen, Elena Sesma, Evan Taylor, Dana Conzo, Bera Topcu, Seda Saluk, Vanesa Giraldo, Vanessa Miranda, Ana Del Conde, Castriella Hernandez, Alin Rus, Christopher Douyard, Honora Sullivan-Chin, Anthony Martin, Heidi Bauer-Clapp, Linda Ziegenbein, Julie Woods, Jill Bierly, Brie Adams, Drew Best, Ying Li, Priscilla Mollard, Elizabeth Usherwood Brose, Eleanor Finley, Adam Zimmer, Lauren Woodard, Erica Kowsz, Elias Capello, Tiffany Parisi, Amanda Fuchs, Tabitha Dorshorst, Claudia Morales Ramirez, Ryan Rybka, Ana Smith-Aguilar, Daniel Habtemichael, Rebecca Bartusewich, Cecilia Vasquez, Andrew Zamora, Gabriela Quijano-Seda, Dana Johnson, Christa Burdick, Jamie Fisher, Justin Helepololei, Julieta Chaparro, and Victoria Bochniak. A special shout out to the Battle-Baptiste family (Trevor, Adelomo, Ayotide, Ololara, and Andrea) for all the house party invitations and making me feel like a welcomed guest. To all the great people I met at the graduate student worker’s union, the folks in the African American Studies Department, and the countless friendly faces I met and interacted with at academic conferences, field schools, and public events. To all the amazing faculty members who helped me develop as a scholar: Krista Harper, Bob Paynter, Jackie Urla, Tom Leatherman, Rae Gould, Amanda Walker Johnson, Elizabeth Krause, Lynnette Sievert, Jennifer Sandler, Milena Marchesi, Maxine Oland, Jason Kamilar, Felicity Aulino, Brigitte Holt, Boone Shear, Julie Hemment, Michael Sugerman, Elizabeth Chilton, John Bracey, Kim Morrison, and Johan Mathew. To Kathy Weilerstein and Maureen Porter for helping me develop as an instructor. vi To the amazing support staff: Shelley Silva, Debbie Averill, Grace Rock, and Beverly Morrison. Thank you for always being on your game and dealing with the various odds and ends that came up. You have thankless jobs, but without your help I would not be able to navigate the bureaucracy as successfully. To Cynthia Ware and Steve Leiblum for being generous landlords who were understanding of the financial constraints facing a graduate student. To my support group back home: Frank, Jacqui, and Ethan Carvajal; Mark, Malissa, and Emma Lemanksi, Mike, Nicole, and Isabella Ciresi, The Lemanski family, The Carvajal Family, Joe and Irene Malec, Tony my barber, Tony and Margo Conzo, Joseph De Camilis, Joey Mara, Kris Randazzo, Mike and Lexi Sheridan, Brian Raucci, Lizzy Swoboda, Evan Norlander, John Calderio, Alex Chan, Len and Caren Katz, Mike and Jas Vecchiarelli, Bobby Fagis, and the Petruska and Mackay hockey families. To my favorite coffee shop “Koffeewagon Roasters”: Thank you Pat, Vicky, and Danielle for fueling the finishing touches and providing a comfortable base