Summer 2000 COLORADO COAL FIELD WAR ARCHAEOLOGICAL FIELD SCHOOL
University of Denver, Fort Lewis College, SUNY-Binghamton

Dates: Two overlapping sessions:
June 13- July 25, 2000
June 27- August 8, 2000

The Summer 2000 Colorado Coal Field War Archaeological Field School is a
joint collaboration between the University of Denver, Fort Lewis College,
and the State University of New York at Binghamton. It will be held at the
Ludlow Tent Colony, a National Historic Register site associated with the
Ludlow Massacre Memorial. The Ludlow Tent Colony is located 15 miles north
of Trinidad, Colorado (map of area).

On the morning of April 20, 1914 Colorado National Guard troops opened fire
on a tent colony of 1,200 striking coal miners and their families at Ludlow,
Colorado. The miners were striking for better pay and working conditions. An
exchange of gunfire continued into the evening, when the colony was set
aflame. When the smoke cleared eighteen to twenty of the colony's
inhabitants were dead, including two women and eleven children. The Ludlow
Massacre was the most violent and best known episode of the 1913-1914
Colorado Coal Field Strike, and a seminal event in U.S. labor history. The
deaths of women and children shocked the nation, and led to several reforms
in labor relations that turned corporate management policies away from
direct confrontation with strikers to more negotiated settlements. Today the
United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) maintain the Ludlow site as a monument
to the struggle of organized labor in America. Although many historical
works exist about the Coal Field Strike, little is known about the everyday
lives of the striking miners and their families. The archaeological research
at Ludlow is dedicated to understanding these everyday lives.

The field school will run in two overlapping sessions: June 13-July 25, and
June 27-August 8, 2000.  The field school is open to undergraduate and
graduate students; there are no prerequisites. Enrollment is limited to 8
students per session.

The field school will be directed by Mr. Mark Walker of the University of
Denver, Director of the Colorado Coal Field War Archaeological Project.
Contributing to the teaching of the field school will be Dr. Dean Saitta of
the University of Denver, Dr. Philip Duke of Fort Lewis College, and Dr.
Randall McGuire of SUNY-Binghamton. Students will learn excavation and
survey techniques, mapping, photography, laboratory analysis, and other
skills. All field equipment will be provided by the project. The two
previous seasons at Ludlow uncovered the remains of tent platforms and
cellars, a possible privy, and many artifacts relating to everyday life in
the colony and the day of the massacre.  Excavations at Berwind, a coal camp
located up a canyon west of Ludlow, also yielded abundant remains that
provide a comparative perspective on tent colony life and life in company
towns in the early 20th century United States.

In Summer 2000 field school participants will work at both Ludlow and
Berwind. We will take advantage of Trinidad's well-preserved late-19th/early
20th century downtown to establish a historical context for our studies.
Local museums and memorials will be used to consider issues in the public
representation and commemoration of the past.

CREDITS AND TUITION: Students enroll for 6 credits through their home
institution, at the tuition rate of their home institution. The University
of Denver will provide official documentation of field school participation
and successful course completion. Persons not currently enrolled in a degree
program, but who desire course credit for later use, may enroll in the
University of Denver course ANTH 3990, Summer Field School in Archaeology,
at the half-price tuition rate of $263/credit hour.

ROOM AND BOARD: Participants receive FREE room and board courtesy of a
Colorado Historical Society-State Historical Fund grant to the University of
Denver. Students will be housed and fed in dormitories at Trinidad State
Junior College in Trinidad. Transportation between Trinidad and the field
sites will be provided.

Other fees: A $500 fee will be collected from each non-University of Denver
credit-seeking student to cover field school travel and equipment expenses,
and University of Denver administrative costs associated with the transfer
of course credit to students' home institutions.

Volunteers: Persons not seeking course credit are invited to participate in
the fieldwork. Room and board will be provided if there is space available.

Direct Inquiries To: Mark Walker, Department of Anthropology, 2130 South
Race Street, University of Denver, Denver CO 80208; 303-871-2824 or 2406;
[log in to unmask]; or, contact Dr. Dean Saitta at 303-871-2680;
[log in to unmask]

This announcement, the application form, and links to additional information
are on-line at http://www.du.edu/~markwalk/fieldschool.html.
--Mark Walker --
The Colorado Coalfield War Archaeology Project
Department of Anthropology
University of Denver
2130 South Race St.
PH N-119
Denver, CO 80208-2406
(303) 871-2824