About the Book
In Unburied Lives Wilkie demonstrates how we can “listen” to stories found in things neglected, ignored, or disparaged–documents not consulted, architecture not studied, material traces preserved in the dirt.
Book Synopsis
According to the accounts of two white officers, on the evening of November 20, 1872, Corporal Daniel Talliafero, of the segregated Black 9th cavalry, was shot to death by an officer’s wife while attempting to break into her sleeping apartment at the military post of Fort Davis, Texas. Historians writing about Black soldiers serving in the West have long accepted the account without question, retelling the story of Daniel Talliafero, the thwarted “rapist.”
In Unburied Lives Wilkie takes a different approach, demonstrating how we can “listen” to stories found in things neglected, ignored, or disparaged–documents not consulted, architecture not studied, material traces preserved in the dirt. With a focus on Fort Davis, Wilkie brings attention to the Black enlisted men and non-commissioned officers. In her archaeological accounting, Wilkie explores the complexities of post life, racialized relationships, Black masculinity, and citizenship while also exposing the structures and practices of military life that successfully obscured these men’s stories for so long.
Review Quotes
“Wilkie’s skillful use of the archaeological and documentary records provides much-needed nuance for understanding the lives of Buffalo soldiers. This book provides a much-needed corrective and complicates previously dichotomous thinking to more accurately represent the challenges and rewards of their military lives.”–Edward González-Tennant, author of The Rosewood Massacre: An Archaeology and History of Intersectional Violence
“Wilkie’s study of the Buffalo soldiers and military life at Fort Davis is bold and innovative. She reveals a complex web of material and social entanglements that illustrate the military’s complicity in anti-black racism while highlighting the various ways that black men–as soldiers, husbands, friends, and fathers–navigated an especially difficult terrain to demonstrate their humanity and rights to citizenship.”–Maria Franklin, contributor to Unlocking the Past: Celebrating Historical Archaeology in North America
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