"Historically Speaking: The Role of Children in the Colonial Chesapeake (Historically Speaking)"

The Center for the Study of Democracy is pleased to co-sponsor the St. Mary's County Historical Society's "Historically Speaking: The Role of Children in the Colonial Chesapeake" program on Wednesday, September 7, 2022.  The talk will be held at the Inn at Leonardtown, 41655 Park Avenue from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm

Join St. Mary's College of Maryland graduate Catherine Dye for an in-depth look into the lives of children in the Virginia and Maryland colonies through an archaeological lens. Children are an understudied group of people historically, especially in archaeology. Where children have been studied, it is typically in relation to mortality rates.  Dye's analysis sheds important light on the experience of childhood in the colonial Chesapeake. In addition to providing an archaeological examination of childhood mortality, the study of child bodies can reflect attitudes toward children at that time. Material culture in combination with burial conditions of children indicates the emotional value these children had, complicating the notion that children were valued primarily for their economic contribution to family or community life.