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Exploring Buried Buxton-90-P (Ihc) (Iowa Heritage Collection)

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This is a wonderful exploration of a major facet of African-American history--a look at a place and time where the children of slaves built a prosperous local society. Buxton was a company town in Iowa where African-Americans comprised the middle class, the miners, the teachers, the doctors...and Whites were a minority. Race relations were generally unselfconsciously excellent, aged former residents indicated to interviewers (some of whom just could not believe it!); these people ran into the harsh racism of the outside world when the company town was disbanded and people had to resettle in DesMoines or Chicago or wherever. This book concentrates on the archaeological aspect of the Buxton Project. A must for any library of African-American studies, historical archaeology, and Midwestern history.

This archaeological study gives a thorough, technical report of research conducted during the 1980s in Buxton, Iowa. Buxton was a company mining town in southern Iowa which was most distinctive because the majority of its population was African-American. This thriving town's existence only spanned about 25 years; today there is little surface evidence of its life. The book includes social history based on material culture, published and primary documents, and oral history.