In April of 2016 Mark Kostro wrote
Mark Kostro [log in to unmask] via
<https://support.google.com/mail/answer/1311182?hl=en> asu.edu
4/19/16
to HISTARCH
Meg,

Between 2012 and 2014 we recovered 46 slate pencil fragments from
plow-disturbed contexts at the 1760-5 Bray School site in Williamsburg, Va
--  roughly a quarter of all the slate pencil fragments that have ever been
recovered in Williamsburg.  The Bray school was a charity school run the
London-based philanthropy, the Associates of Dr. Bray, established for the
purchase of providing religious instruction to free and enslaved African
American children in Williamsburg.  I have used the pencil fragments to
suggest that writing was taught at the school, although some historians
have been quick to point out that writing instruction is not mentioned in
any of the lengthy correspondence between the Bray School's trustees in
Williamsburg and the Associates of Dr. Bray in London.

Best,
Mark

On Thu, Aug 24, 2017 at 11:05 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
>
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