The St. James AME Zion Church Community Excavations

We are pleased to announce plans for the third season of community excavations at St. James AME Zion Church in Ithaca NY. Community members age 12-17 are invited to join us to learn about archaeology, the story of this historic church, and its role in the Underground Railroad. Information packets are available for interested families. Caregivers can either submit an online application or complete and print a participant application form. Hard copy applications should be mailed to Adam Smith, 261 McGraw Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14853.

Beginning in 2021, CIAMS faculty in collaboration with Gerard Aching (Cornell Africana) and Reverend Terrance King (St. James AME Zion Church) launched a new community engaged initiative to explore the history of the St. James community. The St. James AME Zion church building was constructed during the late 1830s and is today the oldest AME Zion church in the world still in active use. The building is known to have been the most important Underground Railroad station in Ithaca during the 1840s and 1850s.  Harriett Tubman is known to have spent time at the Church and Frederick Douglass also visited.  

As in our previous seasons, our 2023 excavation teams will join community middle and high school kids with Cornell students to explore St. James's past. Our goal is to use archaeology as a means to help the Church and wider community tell empowering stories of our shared past. And we hope to inspire Cornell students and Ithaca kids to learn more about their own community and its rich history.

We encourage you to take the CyArk tour of the church and watch a video about the church made by Historic Ithaca.

Student Blog Posts:

Freedom's Path: The Underground Railroad in Ithaca

Freedom's Path: The Underground Railroad in Ithaca

Cornell Historic Preservation graduate student, Kami Cai, presents an ArcGIS StoryMap about the Underground Railroad in Ithaca.

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Why Aren’t There More Nonwhite Archaeologists, Financially Speaking?

Why Aren’t There More Nonwhite Archaeologists, Financially Speaking?

Cornell student Ruth Rajcoomar '24 discusses the need for a more inclusive and equitable field and how the community excavations at St. James highlight the potential for financially inclusive fieldwork experiences.

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An Initial Selection of Glass Artifacts from Community Excavations at Ithaca’s St. James AME Zion Church

An Initial Selection of Glass Artifacts from Community Excavations at Ithaca’s St. James AME Zion Church

CIAMS M.A. student Arnov Tandon explains his analysis of glass artifacts recovered from St. James AME Zion Church.

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Building Community Connections through Archaeology

Building Community Connections through Archaeology

CIAMS M.A. student Carol Anne Barsody shares her experiences participating in the excavations at St. James.

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More to Archaeology than Digging

More to Archaeology than Digging

Cornell student Aaliyah Brown '23 talks with SMSA founder Denise Lee '73 about engaging youth in the excavations at St. James.

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Faith the Size of a Berry Seed

Faith the Size of a Berry Seed

Cornell student Milan Taylor ’24 speaks with Maia Dedrick, Cornell Atkinson Postdoctoral Fellow, about paleoethnobotany work conducted at St. James.

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Community Resistance and Community Archaeology-  St. James AME Zion Church and the Underground Railroad in Ithaca, NY

Community Resistance and Community Archaeology- St. James AME Zion Church and the Underground Railroad in Ithaca, NY

Cornell student Jonathan Ebenezer ‘23 discusses the role of community resistance on the Underground Railroad as it relates to St. James.

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A Day Digging at St. James AME Zion Church

A Day Digging at St. James AME Zion Church

Join CIAMS M.A. student MyKayla Williamson on a day digging at St. James and a day analyzing ceramic artifacts in the lab.

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Press:

group of people outside a church

Excavation uncovers 2K more artifacts at St. James church site

This semester’s work also featured an end-of-semester mini-field course for local children and youth presented by two Cornell students.

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St. James AME Zion Church

Excavation to explore church’s role in Underground Railroad

A multidisciplinary team of Cornell students and faculty and local schoolchildren began an archeological dig Sept. 18 at St. James AME Zion church in Ithaca.

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people looking at a piece of wood

A 'freedom church' unearths its Underground Railroad history

Church members and a multidisciplinary team of Cornell faculty and students are learning more about St. James A.M.E. Zion Church by doing an archaeological dig.

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Cornell students reflect on the St. James AME Zion Community Excavations

Cornell students reflect on the St. James AME Zion Community Excavations

During the fall of 2021, sixteen Cornell graduate and undergraduate students took part in the St James AME Zion Community Excavations alongside Cornell faculty and middle and high school community members. The student participants included CIAMS graduate student members and Archaeology undergraduates as well as participants from other majors and...

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3d model of a church

Underground Railroad project releases new 3-D model

The 3-D tour focuses on the building, its foundation, the archaeological excavation underway and a Civil War monument on the church site.

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