Revolutionary New Jersey Unearthed: An Archaeologist Explores the American Revolution

This well-illustrated presentation explores the American Revolution in New Jersey from an archaeological perspective.  Battlefields and skirmishes, encampments and fortifications, shipwrecks and monuments are all examined. These material traces of a storied period in American history have the potential to rewrite history. Although the last shots were fired over 250 years ago, traces of the American Revolution still surround us and the ideas that motivated the Revolutionary generation continue to echo today.  

Presenter Richard Veit is Associate Dean of the Wayne D. McMurray School of Humanities and Social Sciences and Professor of Anthropology at Monmouth University. His research focuses on historical archaeology in the Middle Atlantic region from the late 17 th through 19 th centuries. He has published widely on gravemarkers and commemoration, military sites archaeology, and Native Americans in the Northeast.

He has conducted fieldwork at several significant historic sites including Joseph Bonaparte’s Point Breeze, the Philadelphia Lazaretto, Raritan Landing, Sandy Hook Lighthouse, and Morristown National Historical Park. He has also participated in fieldwork in Puerto Rico, India, Ireland, and Jamaica. He is the author of numerous peer-reviewed articles and reviews and seven scholarly books. Two of his books, Digging New Jersey’s Past and New Jersey: A History of the Garden State are listed on the New Jersey State library’s 101 Great New Jersey books list. He is President Elect of the Society for Historical Archaeology, Chair of the Council for Northeast Historical Archaeology, and serves as a gubernatorial appointee to the New Jersey Historical Commission. His research has been featured in PBS documentaries, on NPR’s academic minute, and in Archaeology Magazine and he has been a TED speaker.

This program is made possible with the support of The Friends of the Livingston Public Library.