Thursday, September 30

Free Virtual Presentation

The Monmouth County Historical Association presents

What Lies Beneath:

Recent Archaeological Investigations

at Marlpit Hall and the Allen House

Recent archaeological investigations at the Allen House in Shrewsbury and Marlpit Hall in Middletown are revealing significant new information about these storied structures and the people who lived and worked in them. Especially significant is the discovery of a rich deposit of early 19th-century artifacts at Marlpit Hall, which may be associated with an outkitchen used by enslaved individuals. While the historical record provides considerable information about the families that owned these structures, archaeology can provide a more complete picture of the past and shed light on aspects of local history missing from the written record.

 Join us as Dr. Rich Veit gives us a glimpse into an actual archaeological dig! Discover what secrets this fascinating process can reveal. Our upcoming October exhibit, Beneath the Floorboards: Whispers of the Enslaved will be a culmination of the exhaustive new research that has been done at Marlpit Hall, reinterpreting the house to give voice to those who were enslaved there.

 Dr. Richard F. Veit is Professor of Anthropology and Interim Dean of the School Of Humanities and Social Sciences at Monmouth University. He is the President of the Middle Atlantic Archaeological Conference, and his research has been featured on NPR, in Archaeology Magazine and at TEDx Navesink in 2014. Among many articles, he has authored five books including Digging New Jersey’s Past: Historical Archaeology in the Garden State, which received awards from the New Jersey Historic Preservation Office, New Jersey Academic Studies Alliance, and the New Jersey Center for the Book at Rutgers University.

 Register at Monmouthhistory.org/historically-speaking