Southeastern NEWS

                                                       Southeastern Louisiana University
                                           Public Information Office
                                           publicinfo@selu.edu
                                           SLU 880, Hammond, LA 70402
                                           504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
    Date: 4/27/99
      Contact:                           Carol Dotson   05

PLANTATION IS THE SITE OF SOUTHEASTERN SUMMER COURSE  
     HAMMOND -- Evergreen Plantation in St. John the Baptist Parish will be the site of a
two-week Southeastern Louisiana University summer course in archaeology, May 17- June 1.
     The intensive course, sponsored by Southeastern's Cultural Resource Management
Program, will cover archaeological field methods, principals of excavation and field techniques.
Preliminary investigations will focus on the slave quarters area of the plantation. 
     Southeastern professor Scott Simmons said the course is for anyone interested in
Louisiana history, plantation archaeology and learning about the field methods and principles
that
archaeologists use while investigating sites. The course will include both in-class instruction and
field excavations. 
     "The slave quarters area was chosen for investigation at the request of the folks who run
Evergreen Plantation. They would like to know much more about slave life at Evergreen, and
archaeology can help that quite a lot," Simmons said. 
     A double row of original early 19th century slave quarters, later used by tenant farmers
after the Civil War, is still standing at Evergreen. "This is quite unusual, and gives us an
opportunity to look at the specific details of slave life there very closely," Simmons said.
     Evergreen Plantation is located on the west bank of the Mississippi river, on La. Hwy. 18,
in St. John the Baptist Parish, near the town of Edgard, about five or six miles down river (east
of) Vacherie, La.
     Simmons plans to continue doing research at the plantation in the fall. For more
information about the course or to register, call the department of Visual Arts,  549-2193. 

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