Event: WEDS TALKS: Arizona's Statewide Archaeological Project: WPA Employment, Expertise, and Archaeology

ABSTRACT: This talk will explore Arizona's WPA-funded Statewide Archaeological Project, which sponsored archaeological research at 5 separate locations across the state between 1938 -1940. Archival records at the Arizona State Museum reveal significant insights into the project, which employed individuals under four primary payment/skill categories including unskilled, intermediate, skilled, and professional/technical classifications. Built on job titles previously defined by the federal government, these were expanded during Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal. Job titles and descriptions developed during this period continue to have ramifications for federal archaeological and conservation positions, as well as compensatory rates in the 21st century. The role of expertise and skill utilized by WPA employees in archaeological research produced by the Statewide Archaeological Project is examined, as well as their impact on subsequent archaeological results/products.

BIO: Dr. Caitlin R. O’Grady is a conservator and conservation scientist specializing in analysis and preservation of archaeological materials. She is currently Assistant Professor in the UCLA Department of Anthropology and UCLA/Getty Program in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage. In this capacity, she teaches and advises undergraduate and graduate students in Anthropology and Conservation, as well as conducts research in the history of conservation and archaeology disciplines, and pottery manufacture/degradation.