The First Black Archaeologist
The Ancients
History Hit
4.7 • 4.5K Ratings
🗓️ 23 October 2022
⏱️ 40 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Born to slaves in 1863, John Wesley Gilbert was the first student of the Paine Institute, a graduate of Brown University, and the first black archaeologist.
While at Brown, he was awarded a scholarship to study abroad at the American School of Classical studies in Athens, Greece. Here, he helped to shape modern archaeology as we know it today. Working tirelessly, and meticulously on excavations where he helped uncover the ancient city of Eretria, Gilbert also travelled across the country to beautiful ancient sites, and even attended the funeral of Heinrich Schliemann - the man who discovered Troy.
In this episode, Tristan is joined by Professor John W.I Lee from UC Santa Barbara to talk about Gilbert's incredible life, and the legacy that he left behind.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's the Entrance on History Hit. I'm Tristan Hughes, your host and in today's podcast. |
| 0:17.1 | Well, some of my favourite episodes are when we focus on the life of one particular figure |
| 0:24.0 | and look at what they did and their legacy that has endured down to the present day. |
| 0:29.4 | We're doing exactly the same today, but this figure is not an ancient figure. He's an archaeologist. |
| 0:35.1 | His name was John Wesley Gilbert and he's labelled as the first black archaeologist. |
| 0:41.3 | He lived in the late 19th century in the aftermath of the American Civil War. He would study |
| 0:46.8 | archaeology, he would venture to Greece, he would take part in excavations there and |
| 0:51.8 | his legacy endures down to this present day. Now to talk through the life and the importance |
| 0:57.6 | of John Wesley Gilbert to the field of archaeology and so much more, I was delighted to chat |
| 1:03.8 | to Professor John Lee from the University of California, Santa Barbara a few days back. |
| 1:09.8 | And without further ado, to talk through the life and legacy of John Wesley Gilbert, the |
| 1:14.0 | first black archaeologist, he is John. |
| 1:28.6 | John, it is a pleasure to have you on the podcast today. |
| 1:32.6 | Thank you, Tristan. It's really great to be with you. |
| 1:34.6 | It's really interesting to do this topic, a bit different, but love focusing on the stories |
| 1:39.1 | of the archaeologists themselves. And John Wesley Gilbert, he is such an extraordinary figure, |
| 1:43.9 | isn't he? He's story about how he comes, how he merges into archaeology, how he finds |
| 1:49.8 | interest in it and whoa, his whole story. |
| 1:52.7 | Yeah, he has a truly extraordinary and inspiring life for a young person born into slavery, |
| 1:59.2 | then who grew up in the segregated south of the United States, who faced racism and violence, |
| 2:05.1 | and just challenges in getting a basic education that he rose to the top of his profession, |
| 2:10.7 | and was a pioneer as an archaeologist in Greece, is truly amazing. He was one of the first |
... |
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