My first full week as an intern for the Roberson project was a big learning experience for me. It is interesting being an intern for The University of the South in Sewanee when I attend Roanoke, but I got comfortable fairly quickly. The Roberson Project is the University of the South’s public history project investigating black history in Sewanee, which is a deep and interesting story to look into.
One focus of the project is an archaeological dig at the site where a neighborhood elementary school, called the Kennerly school, used to stand in the former black part of town. We have been using ground penetrating radar in order to try to find the foundations of the school. This technology allows us to effectively see through the ground and find features underneath it, but it will take a while for the data to be processed. We also helped set up for the Juneteenth celebration at the local community center where i got to know some of the people who went to the Kennerly school. Overall this has been an exciting week and I am looking forward to working on this project some more!