Karen McIlvoy, Poplar Forest archaeology lab supervisor, to speak at Randolph

Artifacts found recently during archaeological excavations of a slave quarter site at Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest.

Karen McIlvoy, archaeology lab supervisor at Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest

Karen McIlvoy, the archaeology lab supervisor at Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest, will deliver Randolph’s David F. Anthony Memorial Lecture.

“Archaeology on the Plantation: Exploring how enslaved people engaged with their material world” will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 25, at the Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College.

The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be preceded by a reception at 5 p.m.

McIlvoy was born and raised outside of Manassas, Virginia, and spent several years excavating and pursuing a PhD in historical archaeology through the University of Florida. She returned to Virginia in 2015 to join the Poplar Forest staff.

Her research interests focus on the role of material culture in everyday life, with special interest in how enslaved women interacted with or manipulated their material worlds.

At Poplar Forest, she is responsible for the curation and management of a collection of more than 400,000 artifacts. She also serves on the Council of Virginia Archaeologists’ Public Outreach Committee and is treasurer for the Virginia Archaeology Charitable Trust.

The David F. Anthony Memorial Lecture is sponsored by the College, the Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College, and the Lynchburg Society of the Archaeological Institute of America.