ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: LABORING IN STONE: THE URBANIZATION OF CAPITAL IN THE QUARRY TOWN OF TEXAS, MARYLAND, AND ITS EFFECTS, 1840 TO 1940 Adam D. Fracchia, Doctor of Philosophy, 2014 Dissertation directed by: Professor Stephen A. Brighton Department of Anthropology Capitalism is founded on the unequal relationship between capital and labor, a relationship that along with the expansion and accumulation of capital and labor power has come to influence everyday life and values. The quarry town of Texas, in Baltimore County, Maryland, offers an opportunity to explore this important relationship between labor and capital. Established in the mid-nineteenth century to quarry and burn limestone at a time of expanding industry and an expanding nation. The town was created to house the workers, primarily Irish immigrants and later African Americans hired to toil in this hazardous industry, and a community was formed and eventually destroyed. This study examines the logic and process of capitalism, drawing on David Harvey’s theoretization of the urbanization of capital to understand how life at Texas was influenced by capitalism. The role of and changes to the quarry industry’s operations are studied along with their impact on life in Texas and how industry aligned social relations in town to facilitate capitalism through the manipulation of material culture and space. Through an analysis of the built landscape and artifacts of everyday life, such as ceramic tableware and smoking pipes, in their social context, daily interactions can be studied within a wider framework and scale. Studying Texas in this manner demonstrates the utility and necessity of using a totalizing approach, as suggested by Harvey, to examine capitalism in historical archaeology. LABORING IN STONE: THE URBANIZATION OF CAPITAL IN THE QUARRY TOWN OF TEXAS, MARYLAND, AND ITS EFFECTS, 1840 TO 1940 By Adam Fracchia Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2014 Advisory Committee: Professor, Stephen Brighton, Chair Professor Julie Greene Professor Mark Leone Professor Donald Linebaugh Professor Paul Shackel ©Copyright by Adam D. Fracchia 2014 To Diane. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation is the work of a community, drawing from the knowledge and assistance of scholars, experts, staff, colleagues, students, descendants, family, friends, and the many more. Without their contributions, this study would never have reached fruition. Therefore, this work reflects the product of many bonds, and I am very grateful for these relationships and the help of so many. To begin, my dissertation committee guided me through the composition and formation of the dissertation from the initial proposal to the final manuscript. I am deeply indebted to the assistance of my committee members, Stephen Brighton, Mark Leone, Donald Linebaugh, Julie Greene, and Paul Shackel, who contributed their vast knowledge and critical eye to the crafting of the dissertation. During my progression in the PhD program at the University of Maryland, Mark Leone, Donald Linebaugh, and Paul Shackel have offered guidance in my studies and work and so much more to which I cannot thank them enough. Over the last six years, my advisor and dissertation chair, Stephen Brighton has been both an advocate in my academic career and work and a guide, willing to offer a frank critique when warranted. He offered me a chance in the PhD program and welcomed me onto his project in Texas as a partner, sharing this fascinating research with me. I am forever grateful for his guidance and generosity. The faculty in the Department of Anthropology contributed their expertise and guidance through coursework that helped form the dissertation. My fellow graduate students provided much aid whether through their suggestions and advice or as friends to commiserate with. The staff of the Department of Anthropology, Nadine Dangerfield, iii Erik Hanson, Jo Johnson, Sarah Morrow, Sybil Paige, and Archie Tablada, helped me wade through all of the paperwork, requirements, and day-to-day minutiae. Funding from the Department and Graduate School enabled me to focus on my coursework and research. I am also grateful for a grant from the Institute for Museum, Preservation and Archaeology Research and Training. I am fortunate to have been afforded this support and faith. Also at the University of Maryland, I kept the Circulation staff and Interlibrary Loan staff of McKeldin Library busy with requests which they readily filled, and I thank them. I also want to thank the expert librarian, Judy Markowitz, for fielding a range of research questions. The research was dependent on students and their labor. Sites were excavated over three years by students enrolled in the field school, and their sweat and the attention and care they exhibited resulted in the systematic recovery of the data here within. The thousands of artifacts unearthed were processed by countless numbers of volunteers and students over five years. They turned bags and bags of dirty artifacts into a catalog that reflected the lives of a town. I am thankful to all the students and volunteers for taking on such an arduous task. I especially would like to thank the dedicated work of Brianne Reynolds, Erika Kruse, Molly Greenhouse, Erin Knauer, Jocelyn Lee, Cole Walters, Patrick Kim, Rachel Pacella, and Monica Blitzer. The other artifacts from Texas came from a generous loan of the Maryland Archaeological Conservation or MAC Laboratory. I want to thank Becky Morehouse, Patricia Stamford, and the rest of the staff of the MAC laboratory for allowing me to use their collection and combine all the Texas assemblages. I also appreciate the help of iv Mary Louise de Sarran and Charlie Hall at the Maryland Historical Trust for granting me access to the reports associated with these collections. The historical record of Texas is scattered across various archives. Dan Ramirez, Maria A. Day, and the staff at the Maryland State Archives in Annapolis provided assistance and expertise that allowed me to navigate much of the historical record of Texas and write that story here. Teri Rising of the Baltimore County Historic Preservation Office also aided in piecing together the historical records of Texas as did the volunteers and staff of the Baltimore County Historical Society, Archdiocese of Baltimore Archives, and the Local History Room of the Baltimore County Public Library. Fellow graduate student Beth Pruitt helped transcribe and quantify the internment records of St. Joseph Church. I want to thank the residents of Texas and descendants of Texans who enthusiastically welcomed the project. Local residents allowed us to excavate near their homes and businesses and shared their memories of Texas. Hopefully, this dissertation can add to that story. Thank you to Auni Gelles, her family, and her neighbors for opening up their homes in Hampden so that I could better understand the building architecture of Texas. I also want to say thanks to Dave Gadsby for drawing from his work in Hampden to offer several useful suggestions and ideas, and to Michael Lane for sharing such competent students. Family and friends were a huge part of the success of this project providing constant help and inspiration over the last six years. Encouragement never faltered from my parents, grandparents, siblings, and relatives. My parents, siblings, and my in-laws took on the task of caring for my sons, allowing me time to conduct research and v compose the dissertation. I will never be able to say thank you enough to Alfred, Mary Jo, Bryon, Caitlin, Kelly, Marianna, Sol, Rose and Andy. My sons, Kiran and Peter, give me great joy and gave me an incentive and inspiration to complete my dissertation. To my wife, Diane, I say thank you. She held everything together, matching my long hours of work with her own. Her love and companionship was a constant from which I drew. The dissertation is in many ways hers and therefore, it is dedicated to her. Thank you to everyone mentioned here and anyone I may have missed for your time, patience, confidence, and support. While the dissertation represents the assistance of so many, any errors are my own. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments..................................................................................................................iii Table of Contents ...................................................................................................................vii List of Figures ........................................................................................................................x List of Tables .........................................................................................................................xv Chapter 1: Historical Archaeology of Capitalism and a Quarry Town .................................1 Approaches to Capitalism ..........................................................................................4 A Local Study of Capitalism ......................................................................................8 Research Questions ........................................................................................11 The Material Record of Texas .......................................................................14 Dissertation Format ....................................................................................................21 Chapter 2: A Perspective