2024-01-31 The NHPA and Black American Heritage Sites (Bill White, UC Berkeley)

The NHPA and Black American Heritage Sites

William A. White, III
Associate Professor
Department of Anthropology
University of California, Berkeley

The National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) is the template for historic preservation and facilitator of cultural resource management (CRM) archaeology in the United States. Signed into law in 1966, the NHPA acknowledges that “The preservation of heritage is in the public interest so its vital legacy of cultural…benefits will be maintained and enriched for future generations of Americans.” The NHPA paved a pathway for professional archaeologists to identify and evaluate the significance of archaeological sites so government agencies can better administer these precious resources. For better or worse, this law and its progeny have led to the identification of tens of thousands of sites across the country, which has greatly expanded archaeological knowledge in the United States. While we know more about the archaeological past than ever before, the NHPA has not been applied evenly across historic properties associated with all Americans. This talk discusses steps taken to increase the identification and proper evaluation of Black American heritage sites in the United States and U.S. territories through the NHPA. Recent research of the Black Heritage Resources Task Force demonstrated that while most State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPOs) are lacking in their efforts to document Black sites, there are several states and communities that are exemplars of positive work designed to include Black communities in the evaluation of their sites and have made strides towards documenting Black heritage in their jurisdictions.

Keywords: NHPA, historic preservation, cultural resource management, African American archaeology

Audience comment: There is also the Texas Freedom Colonies Project that is a community based effort to identify Black settlements and cemeteries across the state. Data are mapped and available for all to see. The SHPO and Council of Texas Archeologists recommend that CRM archaeologists review this project before heading into the field. Here is a link: https://www.thetexasfreedomcoloniespr...