By Courtney Dentch
“The course is based on teaching field-study methods of archaeology,” Matthews said. “This is a well-preserved and documented archaeological site. It's a great place for students and for me.”
King Manor, on Jamaica Avenue between 150th and 153rd streets, was the home of the King family in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, said Mary Ann Mrozinski, executive director of the King Manor Museum. Rufus King, a four-term senator from New York state and an ambassador to Great Britain, was one of the signers of the Constitution and an outspoken opponent of slavery.
As Matthews teaches his students basic field study procedures on how to find and preserve artifacts, he hopes to chronicle the way of life in the household, he said.
“He made a conscious choice not to have any slaves,” Matthews said. “If Rufus King was all about freedom, how did he live as a free person? We want to figure out what life was like there.”
Matthews and Mrozinski hope the discoveries will help them to learn more about day-to-day life at the manor, which was once part of a working farm that included about 16 buildings, Mrozinski said.
In addition to preserving a variety of artifacts – including ceramic and glass kitchenware, metal utensils, animal and food bones and structural remains – the program will focus on finding the straight path that led up to the front door, an exterior oven believed to be behind the north kitchen and the “elusive privy,” Mrozinski said.
“No one has located that yet,” she said of the outhouse.
The manor has hosted other archaeological programs and Mrozinski hopes to host the Hofstra class for the next few years, she said.
“We've had several programs of archaeology already that have yielded a collection of over 4,000 artifacts,” she said. “It's everything related to life here at King Manor in the 1800s.”
Matthews and his students will be at King Manor Tuesdays through Fridays in July from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Visitors and spectators are welcome and open houses were planned for July 22, 23, 29 and 30 from noon to 2 p.m.
“One of the reasons they selected this site was the public dimension,” Mrozinski said. “They like the idea of having the public come by and say 'what are you doing?'”
A series of lectures was also planned at King Manor. On July 21 David Berstein of the State University of New York at Stony Brook will discuss prehistoric archaeology, on July 28 Diana Wall of City College and Nan Rothschild of Barnard College will speak on archaeology in New York City, and on Aug. 4 Nadezhda William of Fraunces Tavern Museum will talk about the formation of the King Manor Association.
The lectures are free and run from noon to 2 p.m.
“It's hard to find someone that doesn't have an interest in archaeology,” Matthews said. “We want to show them they don't have to travel to the other side of the globe to do it. We want to engage them.”
Reach reporter Courtney Dentch by e-mail at news@timesledger.com, or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 138.
