Archaeology at Albert Wicker Elementary School
In 1971, when the Wicker School was constructed, the block was cleared of all existing homes and the original school from 1885. When it was destroyed after Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) ultimately funded the new school. FEMA, like all federal agencies, ensures that preservation values are considered in federal agency planning and decisions. In this case, FEMA funded an archaeological excavation at Wicker Elementary School. Archaeologists were curious. Was anything of these earlier buildings left behind? Archaeologists looked at historical maps, aerial photos, city directories, and tax rolls in order to find the areas, or “features” with the greatest potential for learning about the people who lived here.
Caption, right: Aerial photo from 1946 showing historic homes on the block with Wicker Elementary School outline shaded on top of image. Courtesy of City Archives and Special Collections, New Orleans Public Library.
Archaeological features are immovable ruins that must be studied in-place. Archaeologists used backhoes to remove paving and the upper layers of soil to reveal over three dozen features, that related to the remains of the historical structures, such as hearths, building foundations, and property lines.The main feature that provided information was the privy, or outhouse, which was filled with thousands of household goods. Archaeologists first expose a wide area to locate potential "features" or ruins of the historical houses that had been on the city block before Albert Wicker Elementary School was built in 1971.
Photographs of archaeological excavations with a mechanical excavators at Albert Wicker Elementary School. Courtesy of Coastal Environments, Inc.
After exposing the features, archaeologists turn to careful hand excavation. While digging, they took detailed notes, recording soil color, texture, and depths. The archaeologists screened all the dirt through a mesh, and then brought back to a laboratory to be washed, sorted, analyzed and prepared for curation. All this information was gathered into an archaeological report that is available at the Louisiana Division of Archaeology.
Photographs of archaeological excavations by hand at Albert Wicker Elementary School. Courtesy of Coastal Environments, Inc.