Archaeologists from the Northeast Archeological Resources Program (NARP) visited Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site (NHS) in Elverson, where they spent time digging into the life of George Brison, an African American who resided in a tenant house near Hopewell in the late 19th century.

The project was supported through the Civil Rights Initiative of the National Park Service (NPS), which assists efforts to expand the understanding and public interpretation of African American histories and heritage within the United States.

During their two-week stay in the area, a crew of seven archaeologists set a goal to identify, document and analyze artifacts and other archaeological evidence it uncovered to learn about the lives of African Americans at Hopewell Furnace and to use archaeology to share their stories.

"We have been digging at one of the outlying tenant homes," explained archaeologist Jared Muehlbauer. "This is the first time anyone has excavated this site."

According to a document provided by Hopewell Furnace NHS, both free and enslaved African Americans lived and worked at the furnace throughout its operation, and a small free black community was founded next door to Hopewell along Six Penny Creek. Hopewell was a cold-blast, charcoal-fueled iron furnace that operated from 1771 to 1883.

The park today includes both the main furnace buildings themselves, as well as the house of the ironmaster, several tenant houses and much of the surrounding land that was used to supply farm goods and charcoal for the furnace operation.

"The furnace centered around producing iron, but in order to do that, they needed charcoal. They owned a lot of the surrounding area to cut timber and manufacture charcoal for the furnace," Muehlbauer pointed out. "There were folks who lived farther out and worked as woodcutters and charcoal makers."

The archaeologists learned that Brison occupied the tenant house as indicated by a rental agreement found in the Hopewell archives. "He was a free African American. He was there right at the end of when the furnace was in operation," Muehlbauer said. "He may have lived alone or with a family; we don't know. The house is in ruins; there are still standing walls, but the rest is gone, which makes it archaeological now."

The group found evidence of household items like ceramic and glass. "It is stuff that would have been used in the house - ceramics from plates, bowls and teacups and (glass) from bottles - a lot of things that would have been common for people to have in the 1800s in their home," noted Muehlbauer.

The items will be taken back to NARP's headquarters in Lowell, Mass. "We will do our artifact analysis and processing, but eventually (the found items) will come back to live at the park," Muehlbauer said.

The crew members presented a public archaeology day at Hopewell on July 17, when they discussed their work and their findings. For more information, visit http://www.facebook.com/NortheastRegionArcheology or http://www.facebook.com/HopewellFurnaceNHS.