Dr. Della A Scott-Ireton

In 2018, East Carolina University’s (ECU) Program in Maritime Studies, in partnership with the Florida Public Archaeology Network (FPAN) and veterans’ nonprofit Task Force Dagger Special Forces Foundation (TFDF), developed and undertook an underwater archaeology veterans program on WWII-related submerged sites in Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). This program was called the Joint Recovery Team (JRT) and consisted of retired and medically retired Special Operations Forces (SOF) veterans from across the United States armed forces (i.e., Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force). The project included training 14 veterans in archaeological techniques and an intensive 2-week investigative field project, during which veterans assisted with archaeological target testing, site identification, and recording. A National Park Service (NPS) Maritime Heritage Program grant supported the training and the Department of Defense, Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Agency (DPAA) financially supported the field project. Project leadership undertook training assessments including a program survey, field observations, unstructured interviews, and reflection journals. This article outlines the development of the public archaeology program, training, fieldwork, and assessments and provides a critical reflection of successes and areas for improvement.

"Examples and strategies for partnering with volunteers in maritime heritage research. This volume is the first to address the ways maritime archaeologists have engaged citizen scientists, presenting examples of projects and organizations that have involved volunteers in the important work of gathering and processing data. With a special focus on program development and sustainability, these practical case studies provide reference points for archaeologists looking to design their own citizen science projects. In these essays, contributors describe initiatives such as the Diver-Archaeological Reconnaissance Cooperative (DivARC), which involves combat veterans in meaningful research missions; Diving With a Purpose, which trains adults and youth in documenting and preserving African slave trade shipwrecks; and classroom education that encourages high school students to develop an interest in the field. As volunteers learn the scope, goals, and outcomes of their research, these studies show, they are empowered to become active participants-and true partners-in scientific inquiry. Throughout the wide range of experiences represented here, the chapter authors discuss challenges they encountered as well as ideas for optimizing future projects and strategies for welcoming diverse communities to this work. Arguing that these initiatives will create space for public engagement in heritage research, management, and preservation, Citizen Science in Maritime Archaeology serves as a foundation for discussion of this goal"--
Includes bibliographical references and index

Maritime archaeologists have long recognized the value of volunteers to further research and management goals. Opportunities in maritime archaeological training, research, and fieldwork are growing for non-divers as well as those certified to scuba dive, and archaeologists generally are grateful to work with anyone who wants to learn more about and engage with maritime cultural heritage. Anyone with an interest in our maritime past may be enlisted as citizen scientists because not everything maritime is submerged. This volume represents an introduction to “citizen science” in maritime archaeology—diving and non-diving—and present a variety of projects, organizations, and experiences in engaging the public, fostering stewardship, and empowering people and communities to contribute to the preservation of our shared maritime heritage. Citizen science, pioneered in the fields of biology and geography, utilizes volunteers, who generally are not scientists, to gather and process data. This focus on the collection and use of data to answer research questions differentiates citizen science from the broader concept of “community engagement.” In archaeology, communities and individuals may be engaged through, for example, attending public lectures and tours, participating in discussions of how to “use” archaeology in their communities, or supporting a project by becoming a docent.

The Deadman’s Island (8SR782) and Town Point (8SR983) shipwrecks are unidentified vessel remains that were archaeologically investigated and interpreted as small stripped and abandoned vessels from the British Occupational Period of Pensacola (1763–1781). The wrecks are located in an 18th-century British Royal Navy careenage called Old Navy Cove at the landform known as Deadman’s Island near Gulf Breeze, Florida. Contemporary documents, both reanalysed and rediscovered, may prove the Deadman’s Island Wreck to be HMS Florida, the last survey schooner of Royal Surveyor and Cartographer George Gauld, and the Town Point Wreck Florida’s attendant shallop.

excerpt from Introduction by Jessie Cragg - With the upheaval of 2020, there is no better time to reflect on the past, both its accomplishments and its lessons. Understanding that individuals are parts that make the whole and recognizing that each story reflects only a small portion of the greater picture, allows us to see the beauty in diversity. Part I of this edition of Pensacola History Illustrated is a curated collection of articles previously published in the Pensacola News Journal. Members of the Escambia County 200th Anniversary Commission set forth to reveal more about life in 1821 Pensacola through documentary and archaeological research. In doing so, they uncovered an entire world previously relegated to long forgotten memories.