The Great Dismal Swamp: A Twentieth Century Perspective

Research presented in this thesis will continue the investigation of (inter)actions within and around the Great Dismal Swamp, while expanding analysis beyond the current temporal focus of the Great Dismal Swamp Landscape Study. The twentieth century witnessed perhaps the most dramatic series of changes to landscape use in the Great Dismal Swamp throughout its entire social history, changes that undoubtedly affected previously established behaviors and relationships. Archival material and oral reports referenced in this work help identify the socioeconomic and ideological underpinnings of society, providing a means to evaluate how these broad processes influenced cultural activity in and around the swamp. Of particular interest in this thesis is the identification and understanding of the signs and manifestations of control expressed over the landscape, and the consequential acts of defiance taken by marginalized or disenfranchised communities. Archaeological evidence, also, has the potential to further illuminate our understanding of past actions in the swamp. However, since no concerted archaeological investigations of the twentieth century have been conducted there, it will be demonstrated that not only is such an endeavor possible, but it is ultimately worthwhile.