Raising Washingtonia: Rediscovering Greece’s Earliest Refugee Settlement (20 min)

Presenters

David K. Pettegrew, Messiah University; Kostis Kourelis, Franklin & Marshall College; Albert Sarvis, Harrisburg University of Science and Technology; Nikos Poulopoulos, University of Missouri-St. Louis; Alexandra Shehigian, Messiah University; and Keli Ganey, Messiah University

Abstract

In 1829, the American philanthropist Samuel G. Howe founded a colony on the Isthmus of Corinth to house refugees displaced by the Greek War of Independence. Through the support of Governor Ioannis Kapodistrias, land grants from the new Hellenic state, and financial aid raised in the United States, Howe restored the Ottoman infrastructure in the region, oversaw farm operations, and supervised the building of a school and hospital. He returned to the United States and reached national recognition in the education of the blind and the abolition of slavery. By the time the American excavations of Corinth commenced in 1896, Washingtonia had all but disappeared from memory of the Corinthian landscape.

James Wiseman brought Washingtonia to the attention of archaeologists again in his Land of the Ancient Corinthians (1978), identifying the site with the modern village of Examilia. The senior staff of the Eastern Korinthia Archaeological Survey (1997–2003) were naturally interested in locating the colony because of the project’s commitment to the archaeology of the modern period. Yet the settlement’s location evaded archaeologists because written accounts indicated different, sometimes contradictory, scenarios about its whereabouts.

In this paper, we report on our rediscovery of the major elements of this unique colony at the transition between the late Ottoman and early modern periods. Making use of historical maps and aerial photos, primary documents, drone photography, oral histories, and architectural study, we used mobile devices and the ArcGIS Field Map app to identify Washingtonia’s distinct landmarks. Especially helpful was a digitized draft version of a map found in the National Archives of France made by the geographer Pierre Peytier during his cartographic work for the Scientific Expedition of the Morea. Our project showpieces new strategies in digital archaeology that can lead to productive models of pedagogy and public archaeology.