On the night of July 10, 1666, Anne Bradstreet was startled from sleep by her family’s screams of "fire, fire!" While everyone escaped the blaze unharmed, their house and belongings were destroyed. Bradstreet would later lament this fateful night in her poem “Verses upon the Burning of our House” - which gives voice to her grief, catalogs what was lost, and expresses her trust in God’s divine hand guiding all things. Despite the tragedy, she and her husband Simon built a new home in Andover, Massachusetts, where she would live and write poems until her death in 1672.
For centuries, historians, archaeologists, and the curious public have sought to locate the remnants of the Bradstreets’ North Andover homes. Using modern methods including dendrochronology and ground penetrating radar, while building on the work of those before us, archaeologist Donald Slater and English professor Christy Pettroff believe they have discovered the remains of both Bradstreet houses - the burned foundation of the home destroyed by fire, as well as elements of the second replacement house, which still stands on the property today.
This presentation will invite you to think through the presenters' material findings as research-in-progress. They share this ongoing research at a crucial juncture, as the property is slated to be sold this spring. In the hopes of preserving the property for future generations, they have established the 501(c)(3) Bradstreet-Phillips Historic Preservation Trust with the goal of acquiring the property. Further research into the Bradstreets’ North Andover homes will reveal a multitude of complex histories and stories at the very roots of American culture. Slater and Pettroff's aim is to ensure the preservation of this site, and to embark upon further archaeological investigation together.
ABOUT THE PRESENTERS
Christy L. Pottroff (PhD, Fordham University) is an assistant professor in the English department at Boston College where she teaches early and 19th century American literature. Her book-in-progress, Postal Hackers, tells the stories of the 19th century misfits who hacked the US postal system by using mail tools and protocols in extraordinary ways. Along with archaeologist Donald Slater, she is coordinating an archaeological study of Anne Bradstreet’s two North Andover homes. Last year, Christy was diagnosed with and treated for cancer - an event that continues to inform her thinking and living.
Donald A. Slater (PhD, Brandeis University) is an archaeologist and educator in the department of history and social science at Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts. His research into past cultures’ worldviews, religion, and iconography has been split between two archaeological worlds – colonial New England and ancient Mesoamerica. After directing the Central Yucatan Archaeological Cave Project in Mexico from 2008-2017, Slater turned his attention to local archaeology where he has been studying the Old Burial Ground and the Bradstreet Site, both in North Andover. In partnership with Christy Pottroff of Boston College, he has positively identified the archaeological and structural remains of two 17th century homes owned by Anne Bradstreet and her husband, governor Simon Bradstreet.
Emerson "Tad" Baker is a professor of history at Salem State University and has previously served as vice provost and dean of the graduate school. He is the award-winning author or co-author of six books on the history and archaeology of early New England, including A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience. Baker’s scholarship has focused on 17th century Maine and New Hampshire. He directed excavations on the Chadbourne Site (1643-1690), a trading post and sawmill in South Berwick, Maine, for thirteen seasons. This work was the focus of the Old Berwick Historical Society’s 2017 exhibit (and exhibit catalog) Forgotten Frontier: Untold Stories of the Piscataqua. He is currently part of an international team of archaeologists and historians undertaking the Landscapes of Indenture project, which studies the Scottish prisoners, and the relationship between forced labor, natural resource exploitation, and environmental change in early New England.
All presentations convey the views of the presenter and not necessarily those of the Partnership of Historic Bostons.
Image: The dig team at the Bradstreet excavation. Below, an aerial view. Credit: Donald A. Slater