Greetings Martha,

In case you have not considered it, the Digital Archaeological Archive of
Comparative Slavery (http://daacsrc.org) may include slate pencils if
researchers recovered such artifacts on any of the sites included in the
archive.

The only books that I'm familiar with--at least through circa 2008--that
may provide answers to Bob's questions and hence general historical context
are as follows:

Cornelius, Janet D.
1992   *When I Can Read My Title Clear: Literacy, Slavery, and Religion in
the Antebellum South* (not sure of the press).

Williams, Heather Andrea
2005   *Self Taught: African American Education in Slavery and Freedom*. (I
think this is the U of NC Press).

Anyway, my three cents worth.

my best,

mike


michael m. gregory, phd
Director, Camp Douglas Restoration Foundation, Inc.
4807 West Woodlawn Court

campdouglas.org
[log in to unmask]


On Thu, Aug 24, 2017 at 10:05 AM, Martha Zierden <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Good morning,
> Passing along a question from interpreter/exhibit design colleagues in
> Charleston, South Carolina. We are curious about the best/longest date
> range for slate pencils?  Also, have folks found them in contexts that are
> clearly associated with enslaved residents?  Has this been interpreted as
> evidence of literacy?
>
> Slate pencils are a common find here in Charleston, throughout the 19th
> century. Our urban contexts are almost always sites occupied by wealthy
> white merchant/planters and their resident slaves, so associating any
> artifacts with a particular group of people is problematic.
> Thanks for any insights
> Martha Zierden
>
> --
> Martha Zierden
> Curator of Historical Archaeology
>
> ############################
>
> To unsubscribe from the HISTARCH list:
> write to: mailto:[log in to unmask]
> or click the following link:
> http://community.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-LSOFTDONATIONS.exe?
> SUBED1=HISTARCH&A=1
>

############################

To unsubscribe from the HISTARCH list:
write to: mailto:[log in to unmask]
or click the following link:
http://community.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-LSOFTDONATIONS.exe?SUBED1=HISTARCH&A=1