Giving Opportunities at Berkeley

This community-based project increases participation in archaeology by Black archaeologists.

Anthropologist Bill White works with undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars to engage them in the study of episodes in African diaspora history that are often invisible in official heritage and history venues. As a founding member of the Society of Black Archaeologists, Professor White co-directs a project in St Croix, one of the US Virgin Islands. Undergraduates working on the project include students recruited through a UCOP-supported initiative to increase the numbers of students from HBCUs who become grad students in the UC system. Students are paid while they gain valuable professional experience exploring the history of enslaved Africans brought there to work sugar plantations. Local school children are given the opportunity to participate in the excavations and learn more about the history of the island. Professor White works with Afro-Crucian communities on what he describes as "homegrown heritage and identity conservation" projects, drawing on his extensive experience working with Native Americans and mainland African American communities on heritage preservation and presentation.

You can read more about Professor White's project in Science magazine:
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/11/caribbean-excavation-offers-intimate-look-lives-enslaved-africans