Preserving, Protecting and Promoting Timbuctoo in 2024

We spent several hours across two days with a national network reporter and cameraman in May.  It was a pleasure to work with Archeologist Dr. Christopher Barton, our family matriarch Mary Weston, Murray matriarch Rose Ball, with her granddaughter and great granddaughter, as well as Joyce Couch, Dorothea Couch, and Lou Rogers. Stay tuned for details  on this broadcast, as well as future plans for videography and broadcast television!

With funding from the New Jersey Historical Commission,  we worked with Richard Grubb and Associates, who used ground penetrating radar (GPR) to confirm that no gravesites outside the legal boundary of the cemetery other than those already identified in a Westampton Township-funded analysis in 2009. With this confirmation, we can proceed with installation of fencing with support from a corporate contribution. As of June 2024, we are awaiting the final GPR report, which will also also identify a more precise location for the AME Zion Church that was formerly located on the front of the cemetery lot, as well as other information that is useful for archeological research and interpretive planning. We will provide additional information about our interpretive planning grant in a future update.

A second part of the project was using GPR to identify the footprint of our ancestral family home somewhere in my mother's backyard:-). Images from 1930 and 1941 aerial photography identify a location for the home which is consistent with our family's oral history. (My great grandmother was the last of her generation to live there and she was born in 1902. Her great-grandfather purchased the parcel in 1829. We assume, but can't be certain, that the 1930/1941 dwelling is the one built in 1829). This assessment was only partially conclusive. Our current plan is to further confirm the location, then excavate the location in 2025.  Needless to say, we are excited of the prospect of learning more about Timbuctoo history through through archeological findings from our ancestral home.

We are continuing our curriculum development project with funding from Burlington County and have several activities planned for the Fall, including development of a children's book for  elementary school students.  The book will be written by Advanced Placement (AP) African American History students under supervision of teachers experienced with children's books, and illustrated by art students, both from Rancocas Valley Regional High School (RVRHS). Pictured to the left is a clip of the current AP African American History class that I spoke to on May 31.  This was, by far, the most inquisitive and talkative high school class I've ever spoken to....but then, I've never spoken to an AP class.  Kudos to their teacher, Cheryl Cliver for stimulating their curiosity and keeping them engaged.

In collaboration with the Lawnside Historical Society, we submitted a proposal and were accepted to present at this annual meeting of New Jersey public school teachers. Our materials were developed with funding from Burlington County by Burlington County teachers in accordance with standards established by the New Jersey Department of Education.  Further details are available here.

Our most recent publication was entitled Finding My Roots By Digging in the Ground: Learning History and Heritage Through Archaeology. A complete list of fifteen papers or book chapters, with hyperlinks to several of the items can be found here. Our aim is to publish at least twice each year raise awareness of Timbuctoo's historic significance in academia, contribute to ongoing discourse and literature on African American and New Jersey history, and to provide resources for teachers seeking to enhance teaching of local history in the classroom.