Students who commute from the western suburbs may not know that when they pass the town of Maywood on the regular railroad, they are also passing by a part of the Underground Railroad.
Michael Gregory, an assistant professor’s fall Anthropology field experience class began an archeological journey to discover the site of the house of Zebina Eastman. Eastman, who came to Maywood in the mid 1800’s from Vermont, was a well-known abolitionist and friend of Abraham Lincoln. Eastman also started a newspaper and once served as the Ambassador to England when Lincoln was president.
Zebina’s house is said to have been part of the Underground Railroad – this has not been confirmed, but his status during the abolitionist movement makes him a point of study for budding anthropologists. Though the class did not know for sure where the exact location of the house was, they now have a general idea of where it stood and Gregory is hoping to have access to the property in the spring for his next class.
“You could compare it to when a student who is studying a language goes overseas and experiences the language there… [in a field study] we take what they learn in their classes and apply it in the field,” Gregory said. “It’s a good experience for students who are especially interested in archeology.”
Many 20th century artifacts were found by students, including children’s toys. The current property owners found a Minnieball—a civil war bullet—after building a garage.
Gregory said that by next spring or summer, they hope to have access to the believed location of Eastman’s house. During this time, Gregory hopes to find artifacts from the pre-civil war era and a trash deposit containing broken plates. rom the pre-civil war era. These plates could tell them what kind and quality of china they used.
While these artifacts may seem trivial, they can tell a great deal about the Eastman’s. Buttons capture what kind of clothing was worn and animal bones reveal the type of meat the family was able to afford.
“The students did all of the archeology and historical research themselves at the Cook County Court House. They researched who owned the land, and so on — all the things a professional archeologist would have done,” he said.
While the group failed to find evidence of Eastman’s home, the project marks the beginning of DePaul’s Department of Anthropology and West Town Museum of Cultural History/Maywood Historical Society and the Village of Maywood Special Events and Public Relations Commission.
For Gregory, he hopes to look at the property where the first African American family in Maywood lived. Although the property is small, they are still working for permission to work there.
Laurel Appleton, a Junior Anthropology major who worked on the project said the best part of the experience was working with Gregory. “He has such wonderful life experience and is able to relate that to what we’re doing and learning,” she said.
The DePaul team worked with The West Town Museum and the Village of Maywood Special Events and Public Relations Commission. According to Gregory, Maywood approached DePaul about having a field experience class excavate in their town, and told them what kind of things they wanted the class to find.
“We worked together to get what we both wanted,” Gregory said. “We provide the archeology expertise and labor, and they provide us with entry into the community. They pave the way.”
“They were so excited to have us; it was amazing to see that. One of the first days of our dig they brought us cookies,” Appleton said.
Gregory said the Anthropology department provided the equipment and paperwork for the projects, and students paid their own way to the site: Some drove and carpooled, others took Metra.
Appleton also mentioned that the people in the class made the experience memorable, because they were hard-working and involved. “They were the type of people that even when we weren’t finding anything for a while in our pit they kept going. They were so passionate,” Appleton said.
“The students did all of the archeology and historical research themselves. They went to the Cook County Court House, they researched who owned the land, and so on — all the things a professional archeologist would have done,” Gregory said.
“A lot of jobs in the archeology field require you to have previous field experience, so this was a great way to get that experience,” Appleton said.
The class conducted the research, worked on the site, wrote reports, and brought whatever artifacts they found to DePaul’s archaeology lab. They then will give the artifacts to the West Town Museum, who will curate an exhibit around it.
Gregory said that his class could not have done the work they did in the fall without the help and support from the Maywood community. “The West Town Museum and the Village of Maywood Special Events and Public Relations Commission provided the support and helped in contacting the property owners. They did a lot of the leg work for me. They have the connections, so we were able to do a lot that we would never have been able to do on our own,” he said.
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