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New director digs her gig at archeology lab
Friday, Feb. 22, 2008
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After taking a class that fit into her schedule, Patricia Samford did not know that it would one day lead to her becoming the director at the state’s archeology conservation laboratory.
‘‘I took an anthropology class on a whim. I was taught by a visiting professor. I went out to follow up on a dig, and I was hooked on it,” Samford said.
The Maryland Archaeological Conservation Lab is at Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum in St. Leonard. The history and archeology museum explores the changing cultures and environment of the Chesapeake Bay region of the past 7,500 years.
Samford, a native of Southside, Va., recently served as regional administrator for North Carolina historic sites. An archeologist by training, Samford has been the director of the lab for the past seven months.
‘‘This job is a perfect opportunity for me because I get to go back into archeology, and it draws on my strengths as an administrator,” Samford said.
Samford’s duties include setting long- and short-term goals in addition to making sure that the 7 million artifacts stored on site are preserved properly. She said she wants to do more to help show people how they can use archeology to study the past. The park has several programs that include storing artifacts, protecting and preserving the pieces in a lab and treating them in special ways. There is also a research component of the park — there have been 70 archeological finds that date from 7,500 years ago to the early 1900s.
Samford’s main interest for the lab lies in trying to bring artifacts back into the community and putting them on display. She wants to create more public interest and says that as Maryland gets more developed, many archeological sites are impacted and history is lost forever. She is interested in doing outreach programs for high schools and is planning virtual field trips, especially with the conservation labs.
For her, the idea of finding something that has been lost for years is exciting. Her main research interest is the study of slaves in Maryland and Virginia.
‘‘During a dig in Williamsburg, Va., in 1989 or 1990, we were digging next door to the Governor’s Palace. We found a bone handle that broke off from a shaving implement. It had Thomas Jefferson’s name carved in it, done professionally by a jeweler,” said Samford, of one of her more exciting finds.
Samford has advice for those who want to get into this field. She recommends people get some field experience, and seek out the Archeology Society of Maryland.
