Well, we've finally drafted our privy article, which I am attaching for all
who might be interested in what we finally settled on for our
interpretation. We still think there's more work to be done, particularly
on the issue of stockpiling. There was no evidence for this practice in the
desposits we analyzed for Los Angeles, but think it might come into play
elsewhere. We are currently analyzing late-19th-century data from 16 city
blocks in Oakland, California, and will therefore have a chance to take our
interpretations further. For the Oakland project, we are planning to
investigate public health records and newspaper accounts of "nuisances"
more thoroughly, as one avenue of inquiry.
 
There was such a strong, substantive response to our series of posts that
we wonder if people might be interested in a symposium on this topic at the
SHA 2000 meetings. I know there have been "privy" sessions in the past, but
I feel we can take the analyses and interpretations a step further now. If
anyone thinks they'd be interested in participating in or attending such a
session, please contact me off-list (just to get a feel of the interest
level--I'm not expecting a commitment from anyone yet!).
 
Thank you again for all your input.
 
Grace Ziesing
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