Professional Archeologist and Historian, Patrick O’Neill gave a presentation last month to Prince William County’s RELIC Room talking about “The Preserve: Reconstructing an African American Neighborhood.”
Patrick has been involved in the Bull Run Mountains area for the past twelve years, specifically conducting work on the Beverley-Chapman Mill site. For the past three years, Patrick has joined our Preserve team as our Volunteer Archaeologist, assisting with our Cultural History Project.
Patrick and Joe Villari, our Preserve Manager, were introduced through Patrick’s inquiries into historic land tracts that are now within the boundaries of our Preserve. His work has accelerated our discovery of our diversely peopled past, from providing historical insight to helping discover new cultural sites on the Preserve.
You can listen to his talk by clicking the button below, and learn about the work he has done to uncover the historical narratives within the Preserve’s Catlett’s Branch quarries.
The Ruth E. Lloyd Information Center (RELIC) is a collection devoted to genealogy and local history, focusing on Virginia and Prince William County. If you are interested in learning more about RELIC and the programs they offer, please visit their site here.
Check back here, and on RELIC’s site, for a presentation given by Preserve Cultural History Interpreter Barinaale Dube and myself on our Cultural History Project as a whole, and some case studies surfacing from our research. Our virtual presentation, given through the RELIC Room, will be made available soon.
