Term of Award

Fall 2025

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Social Sciences (M.A.)

Document Type and Release Option

Thesis (open access)

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Department

Department of Sociology and Anthropology

Committee Chair

Ryan McNutt

Committee Member 1

J. Matthew Compton

Committee Member 2

Jennifer Sweeny-Tookes

Abstract

Plantation development in Chatham County has a rich but incomplete history. Silk Hope, an Ogeechee District tidal plantation, is located seven miles from the city of Savannah on the Northern banks of the Little Ogeechee River. This project focuses on identifying the site boundaries of portions of Silk Hope Plantation and its historical background. Specifically, the project focused on delineating the boundaries of the associated cemetery and/or burial grounds, while estimating the number of individuals interred there using ground-penetrating radar (GPR). Finally, collaborative work with community members, including stakeholder and descendant interviews, will provide ethnographic insights into the site's history and future preservation, as well as recommendations for stewardship. Informed by theoretical approaches such as feminist political ecology and “powered cultural landscapes,” this investigation will seek to answer how created and natural landscapes mirror a power dynamic that reflects and perpetuates social and cultural norms.

Research Data and Supplementary Material

No

Download

Share

COinS