McKinnon to talk archaeology of the Civilian Conservation Corps in Arkansas

Duncan P. McKinnon from the University of Central Arkansas will present “The Civilian Conservation Corps in Arkansas: From Active Camps to Archaeological Landscapes” at the October meeting of the Ouachita Chapter of the Arkansas Archeological Society. This talk will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at 7 p.m. in the Rainey Room in the new CIC Building at Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts, 200 Whittington Ave., Hot Springs. The event is free and open to the public.

A component of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal program was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), which provided a sense of immediate relief to the citizens of Arkansas throughout its duration (1933-1942). CCC camps were established across the state to support projects related to soil and water conservation, forestry and wetlands management, recreational facilities, among others.

These once active camps are now archaeological landscapes that contain the remains of foundations, structures, overgrown roads, and water management systems. Others represent empty or repurposed landscapes of former thriving camps. They define a past human activity that connects members of present communities through a shared history that can be compared to contemporary social concerns. This talk summarizes five years of excavation of Camp Halsey in Faulkner County and subsequent efforts to synthesize CCC-related archaeological sites throughout the state.

Duncan P. McKinnon is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Central Arkansas and Director of the Jamie C. Brandon Center for Archaeological Research. He received a B.A. in anthropology from Texas State University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Arkansas. He has published in numerous regional and national journals, book chapters, and online summaries on Arkansas archaeology and history. He is author of The Battle Mound Landscape: Exploring Space, Place, and History of a Red River Caddo Community in Southwest Arkansas (ARAS Research Series) and co-editor of Archaeological Remote Sensing: Applications in North America (UA Press) and Ancestral Caddo Ceramic Traditions (LSU Press).

The Arkansas Archeological Survey’s research station at Henderson State University, 1042 Haddock St., Arkadelphia, holds regular Archeology Lab Days on Thursdays. Students and members of the public are invited to come by the research station on Thursdays between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. to learn more about archeology in Arkansas. For more information, contact Mary Beth Trubitt at 870-230-5510.