Shane McGary and Michelle Proulx Search for Antebellum Slave Cemeteries

Description

Shane McGary and Michelle Proulx are using ground-penetrating radar technology to detect possible African-American burial sites at the estate of James and Dolley Madison in Orange County, Virginia, which in recent years has begun telling a more complete story.

esident archaeologist Matthew Reeves began to wonder if the site, located across the road from a wooded area with a few modest headstones, was in fact a second slave cemetery on the property. After digging into the matter on his own, he turned to Shane McGary, a noted geophysicist and professor of geology and environmental science at JMU.

“Our work is trying to get a sense of whether there are burials there, where exactly they might be, and helping [Montpelier] better understand the history of the place,” McGary says.

'Our work is trying to get a sense of whether there are burials there, where exactly they might be, and helping [Montpelier] better understand the history of the place.'

— Shane McGary, professor of geology and environmental science

For this important undertaking, McGary enlisted the help of Michelle Proulx, a senior geology major with whom he had worked at other area historical sites with oral histories of slave burial grounds. One of those sites was Belle Grove Plantation near Middletown, Virginia, the ancestral home of the Hite family, including Nelly Madison Hite, sister of James Madison.

Web Presence

https://www.jmu.edu/news/2018/04/23-mm-montpelier-slave-burial-sites.shtml

Involvement

Involves Faculty, Involves Students

Scope

Harrisonburg/Local/VA

Date

May 16, 2018

Frequency

One Time Only

Existing Center/Institute/Program

no

Type of Partner

Nonprofit Agency

Primary Focus of Program

Cultural Institutions and Programs; Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability

Begin Date

5-2018

Areas of Engagement

Community Engagement, Engaged Learning

Format

Research

On/Off campus

Off campus