Archives and collections from across the country will be posting about #ArchivesRoadTrip for the National #ArchivesHashtagParty on Twitter.
Here at the Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology, we have a special archaeological road trip to present to you!
In December 1930 Dr. Warren K. Moorehead, dean of North American archaeology as he was known, gave a lecture and informal discussion on mound builders to the Indiana Historical Society for their centennial celebration. In turn, the Society and its Archaeological Section invited Moorehead and a few other notables on a tour of the most important then-known archaeological sites of Indiana. Glenn A. Black, a self-taught newcomer to the realm of archaeology, guided this 11-day tour.
A very brief rundown of the trip…
The trip began on May 4, 1931. Glenn Black and Dr. Moorehead visited Strawtown in Hamilton County.
On May 5th, the Black and Moorehead were joined by Mr. William R. Teel and Mr. E. Y. Guernsey to visit the “works” near Anderson… today known as Mounds State Park.
On May 6th the real fun began. Mr. Eli Lilly joined the crew in their ventures to visit Martinsville, Worthington, Merom in Sullivan County, and several mounds in Vincennes.
Leaving Vincennes, the crew traveled to New Harmony in Posey County, then to a site along the Wabash River called “Bone Bank,” and finally to what became a highlight of the tour, Angel Mounds.
In writing to Eli Lilly after the completion of the tour later in the month, Dr. Moorehead referred to Angel Mounds as “a most important place archaeologically in your state.” He encouraged Lilly to purchase the site in order to safeguard it until the state could take over. (**Spoiler alert… he did just that later in the decade!)
Moorehead also encouraged the training and hiring of young Glenn Black to continue the project of Indiana county surveys that was abruptly put on hold due to lack of funding and resignation of the previous surveyor, Frank M. Setzler. Glenn was hired by the Indiana Historical Society the following month.
This road trip effectively jumpstarted Glenn A. Black’s archaeological career!
