By Caroline Watson, Lemon Project Anthropology Graduate Assistant
Those who are well-connected with the Lemon Project likely know Dr. Susan Kern. To meet Susan is to learn of her extensive knowledge of the inner and outer workings of William & Mary’s Historic Campus. Her knowledge base of campus history is rarely surpassed! This is unsurprising given Susan’s connection to William & Mary as an alumnus (Ph.D., History) and the university’s most recent Executive Director of Historic Campus (2014-2021). Susan took over as Executive Director of Historic Campus in 2014, replacing previous director Louise Kale, who took the honorable position in 1995 (and in whose name the daffodil garden in the North Wren Yard is dedicated).
As a key figure who has shaped the narrative surrounding Historic Campus, especially the Wren Building, I sought to learn more about Susan’s role as Executive Director. On a warm afternoon last October, we gathered for a coffee and a brief interview. My initial curiosities surrounded Susan’s job requirements, as not many universities have an institutionalized Historic Campus, much less an Executive Director of it. I was indeed surprised to learn of the breadth and diversity of roles that were required of such a position.
During her time at William & Mary, Susan facilitated and upheld working relationships with many local and state-wide institutions, including the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, the William & Mary Center for Archaeological Resources, the Muscarelle Museum, and facilities management. When she wasn’t occupied by the bureaucratic responsibilities that came with maintaining these relationships, Susan was tasked with managing Historic Campus’s resources. This management required not just a little bit of work and creativity from Susan; this was a colossal commitment on her part to care for the documents, artworks, and archaeological materials that belong to Historic Campus. A significant part of this care, we discussed, was focused on the archaeological resources. Susan herself was and is adequately prepared for such a task, given her experience working and directing Monticello’s archaeology department for 8 years. For those who may not know, W&M’s archaeological resources materialize in diverse forms. They range from technical reports, excavation descriptions and planning documents, publications, artifacts, and even the sites themselves. One of Susan’s most recent projects on Historic Campus oversaw the excavation of an 18th-century vaulted brick drain behind the Wren Building.
Historic Campus has been continuously occupied and used since the chartering of W&M in 1693—and long before that too. As such, Susan had her hands full writing, re-writing, and expanding the archaeological narrative of this landscape. In particular, Susan helped reframe thinking about campus as a site of slavery, including understanding the College (Wren) Building as William & Mary’s original slave quarter. Through her diligent work on Historic Campus and as a partner with the Lemon Project, Susan was committed to a more inclusive history at William & Mary.
Moreover, before leaving office, Susan composed a formal recommendation to Colonial Williamsburg and William & Mary regarding the best practices for the management of the University’s archaeological resources. As part of her plan, I continue to use the documents and resources that she gathered as part of my Lemon Project fellowship investigating the history of archaeology and slavery at W&M. Thank you again, Susan, for all your work!
Thanks for sharing. I read many of your blog posts, cool, your blog is very good.
I appreciate, cause I found exactly what I was looking for. You have ended my 4 day long hunt! God Bless you man. Have a nice day. Bye
You made a few nice points there. I did a search on the topic and found mainly people will go along with with your blog.
I visited a lot of website but I believe this one has something extra in it in it
What i do not understood is if truth be told how you’re not really much more smartly-appreciated than you may be right now. You’re so intelligent. You know therefore considerably with regards to this topic, made me personally imagine it from a lot of various angles. Its like men and women are not interested unless it’s one thing to do with Girl gaga! Your personal stuffs outstanding. All the time care for it up!
You made some clear points there. I looked on the internet for the issue and found most guys will consent with your blog.
I as well believe therefore, perfectly pent post! .
Hey would you mind stating which blog platform you’re working with? I’m going to start my own blog in the near future but I’m having a difficult time selecting between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your design seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something completely unique. P.S Apologies for getting off-topic but I had to ask!
I really appreciate this post. I’ve been looking all over for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You’ve made my day! Thx again!
I am impressed with this site, very I am a fan.
I have learn some good stuff here. Definitely worth bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how so much effort you place to make this kind of fantastic informative web site.
Enjoyed reading this, very good stuff, thankyou. “Whenever you want to marry someone, go have lunch with his ex-wife.” by Francis William Bourdillon.
Good write-up, I am normal visitor of one?¦s website, maintain up the nice operate, and It is going to be a regular visitor for a lengthy time.
Some genuinely nice stuff on this web site, I enjoy it.
There’s noticeably a bundle to know about this. I assume you made certain good factors in options also.
Wohh exactly what I was looking for, thankyou for posting.
Good post however I was wanting to know if you could write a litte more on this subject? I’d be very grateful if you could elaborate a little bit further. Thanks!
Loving the information on this web site, you have done great job on the articles.
Hey just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The text in your article seem to be running off the screen in Ie. I’m not sure if this is a formatting issue or something to do with browser compatibility but I thought I’d post to let you know. The design and style look great though! Hope you get the issue fixed soon. Thanks
I think this internet site has got some really wonderful information for everyone : D.
This web page is really a stroll-by means of for all the data you wanted about this and didn’t know who to ask. Glimpse right here, and also you’ll undoubtedly discover it.
Just what I was looking for, regards for posting.
Hi there, You have done an excellent job. I will certainly digg it and personally recommend to my friends. I’m confident they will be benefited from this web site.
I have been absent for some time, but now I remember why I used to love this website. Thank you, I’ll try and check back more often. How frequently you update your site?
Today, while I was at work, my sister stole my apple ipad and tested to see if it can survive a 40 foot drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation. My apple ipad is now broken and she has 83 views. I know this is entirely off topic but I had to share it with someone!
It is in point of fact a nice and useful piece of info. I?¦m satisfied that you just shared this helpful information with us. Please stay us up to date like this. Thank you for sharing.
This web site is really a walk-through for all of the info you wanted about this and didn’t know who to ask. Glimpse here, and you’ll definitely discover it.
Very efficiently written story. It will be useful to everyone who usess it, including myself. Keep doing what you are doing – looking forward to more posts.
Hi would you mind letting me know which webhost you’re using? I’ve loaded your blog in 3 different web browsers and I must say this blog loads a lot faster then most. Can you suggest a good internet hosting provider at a fair price? Kudos, I appreciate it!
Sweet internet site, super design and style, rattling clean and use genial.
I am glad to be one of many visitants on this great internet site (:, thankyou for posting.
Hey very nice website!! Man .. Beautiful .. Wonderful .. I’ll bookmark your blog and take the feeds also…I’m happy to seek out numerous helpful info here within the publish, we need develop more strategies on this regard, thank you for sharing.
you’re in point of fact a good webmaster. The website loading speed is amazing. It kind of feels that you are doing any unique trick. Moreover, The contents are masterwork. you’ve performed a magnificent task on this topic!
You got a very excellent website, Gladiola I detected it through yahoo.
You should participate in a contest for the most effective blogs on the web. I will suggest this website!
Great site! I am loving it!! Will come back again. I am taking your feeds also.
Incredible! This blog looks exactly like my old one! It’s on a totally different topic but it has pretty much the same page layout and design. Great choice of colors!
Thanks for another great post. The place else may anyone get that type of information in such a perfect approach of writing? I have a presentation next week, and I am at the search for such info.
I genuinely value your work, Great post.
I am glad to be a visitor of this double dyed blog! , thanks for this rare information! .
Hey very cool web site!! Man .. Beautiful .. Amazing .. I will bookmark your site and take the feeds also…I am happy to find so many useful information here in the post, we need develop more techniques in this regard, thanks for sharing. . . . . .
I¦ve been exploring for a little bit for any high-quality articles or blog posts on this kind of space . Exploring in Yahoo I finally stumbled upon this site. Studying this info So i¦m glad to show that I’ve a very just right uncanny feeling I found out just what I needed. I so much certainly will make sure to don¦t fail to remember this web site and give it a look regularly.
Hiya very nice blog!! Man .. Beautiful .. Superb .. I’ll bookmark your site and take the feeds also…I am happy to find numerous useful information here within the submit, we want develop more techniques on this regard, thank you for sharing. . . . . .
You made some clear points there. I looked on the internet for the topic and found most persons will go along with with your site.
Hey there, You’ve done an excellent job. I will certainly digg it and personally suggest to my friends. I am sure they will be benefited from this web site.
wonderful points altogether, you simply gained a brand new reader. What would you recommend in regards to your post that you made some days ago? Any positive?
Heya i am for the primary time here. I came across this board and I in finding It really helpful & it helped me out much. I am hoping to offer one thing back and aid others like you aided me.
I wanted to thank you for this great read!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post…
An interesting discussion is worth comment. I think that you should write more on this topic, it might not be a taboo subject but generally people are not enough to speak on such topics. To the next. Cheers
Really wonderful information can be found on blog. “Preach not to others what they should eat, but eat as becomes you, and be silent.” by Epictetus.
Please let me know if you’re looking for a article author for your blog. You have some really great posts and I think I would be a good asset. If you ever want to take some of the load off, I’d absolutely love to write some articles for your blog in exchange for a link back to mine. Please send me an e-mail if interested. Cheers!
Do you mind if I quote a couple of your articles as long as I provide credit and sources back to your blog? My website is in the very same niche as yours and my users would certainly benefit from a lot of the information you provide here. Please let me know if this okay with you. Regards!
There is noticeably a bundle to identify about this. I believe you made some good points in features also.
Currently it appears like Expression Engine is the top blogging platform available right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you’re using on your blog?
This is the right blog for anyone who wants to find out about this topic. You realize so much its almost hard to argue with you (not that I actually would want…HaHa). You definitely put a new spin on a topic thats been written about for years. Great stuff, just great!
Today, I went to the beachfront with my children. I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She put the shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is entirely off topic but I had to tell someone!
I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you create this website yourself? Plz reply back as I’m looking to create my own blog and would like to know wheere u got this from. thanks
You made some good points there. I did a search on the subject and found most people will consent with your site.
I regard something genuinely special in this site.
I haven’t checked in here for some time since I thought it was getting boring, but the last few posts are good quality so I guess I will add you back to my everyday bloglist. You deserve it my friend 🙂
I have been browsing online more than three hours as of late, yet I by no means discovered any fascinating article like yours. It¦s lovely price sufficient for me. Personally, if all webmasters and bloggers made good content material as you did, the net might be a lot more useful than ever before.
It’s the best time to make some plans for the future and it is time to be happy. I’ve read this post and if I could I want to suggest you some interesting things or suggestions. Perhaps you can write next articles referring to this article. I want to read more things about it!
I am continually searching online for posts that can help me. Thx!
My husband and i ended up being cheerful when Edward managed to complete his survey from the ideas he discovered from your site. It’s not at all simplistic just to happen to be giving for free secrets and techniques that some other people might have been trying to sell. We really grasp we have the blog owner to be grateful to for this. All of the explanations you have made, the straightforward web site navigation, the friendships you will help instill – it is mostly overwhelming, and it is leading our son in addition to us recognize that this concept is exciting, which is extraordinarily essential. Thanks for all the pieces!
I’m so happy to read this. This is the kind of manual that needs to be given and not the random misinformation that is at the other blogs. Appreciate your sharing this best doc.
F*ckin’ tremendous issues here. I am very glad to look your article. Thank you a lot and i am looking ahead to touch you. Will you please drop me a mail?
Way cool, some valid points! I appreciate you making this article available, the rest of the site is also high quality. Have a fun.
I’ve recently started a blog, the information you offer on this site has helped me greatly. Thanks for all of your time & work.
I was suggested this website by my cousin. I’m not sure whether this post is written by him as nobody else know such detailed about my trouble. You’re wonderful! Thanks!
That is the best blog for anybody who wants to seek out out about this topic. You notice so much its nearly onerous to argue with you (not that I truly would need…HaHa). You undoubtedly put a brand new spin on a topic thats been written about for years. Nice stuff, just nice!
Attractive part of content. I simply stumbled upon your weblog and in accession capital to say that I get actually loved account your weblog posts. Any way I will be subscribing on your augment or even I achievement you get right of entry to constantly rapidly.
Just wish to say your article is as amazing. The clarity in your post is simply cool and i can assume you’re an expert on this subject. Well with your permission allow me to grab your RSS feed to keep updated with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please carry on the enjoyable work.
Simply wish to say your article is as astonishing. The clearness in your post is just excellent and i can assume you are an expert on this subject. Fine with your permission allow me to grab your RSS feed to keep updated with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please continue the gratifying work.
I like this website because so much utile stuff on here : D.
Good write-up, I am regular visitor of one¦s blog, maintain up the excellent operate, and It’s going to be a regular visitor for a lengthy time.