►
Description
Docket #0866 - Message and order authorizing the City of Boston to accept and expend the amount of Three Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($350,000.00) in the form of a grant, for the Boston Digital Archaeology Project, awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities to be administered by the Environment Department. The grant will fund salary for an archaeologist to collect data and digitized findings and make them accessible to scholars and the general public
A
Nilla
chamber,
my
name
is
Matt
O'malley
I
am
the
district
six
city
councilor
and
the
chairman
of
the
committee
on
environment,
sustainability
and
parks,
as
well
as
the
chairman
of
the
committee
on
healthy
women,
families
and
communities.
We
have
a
number
of
grants
to
talk
about
it.
Today's
council
hearing
we're
beginning
with
docket
number
zero,
eight
six
six,
which
is
a
grant
of
three
hundred
and
fifty
thousand
dollars
under
the
environment,
sustainability
and
parks.
A
Committee
I
will
read
into
the
record
the
docket,
which
reads
message
in
order
authorizing
the
city
of
Boston
to
accept
and
expend
in
the
amount
of
$350,000
in
the
form
of
a
grant
for
the
Boston
digital
archaeology
project
awarded
by
the
National
Endowment
for
the
Humanities
to
be
administered
by
the
Environment
Department.
The
grant
will
fund
salary
for
an
architect.
Excuse
me
this
grant
will
fund
salary
for
an
archaeologist
to
collect
data
in
digitized
findings
and
make
them
accessible
to
scholars
and
the
general
public.
A
We
are
joined
by
my
dear
colleague
and
friend,
the
district
to
city
councilor,
Edie
Flynn
for
those
who
may
be
in
the
chamber.
This
is
a
public
hearing.
We
ask
you
to
silence
your
cellphone's
take
conversations
outside,
please.
If
anyone
would
like
to
testify,
they
may
do
so
by
signing
up
in
the
test
on
the
signup
sheet
to
my
left,
close
to
the
door.
I
want
to
remind
everyone
that
this
is
a
public
hearing
being
recorded
and
broadcast
on
Comcast,
eight
RCN
to
Verizon
1964,
as
well
as
streamed
digitally
at
Boston
gov
city
council
TV.
A
B
Well,
thank
you
councillor
Malley,
and
thank
you
for
your
work
on
this
important
issue.
For
many
years.
I
just
want
to
I
mean
I'm
interested
in
hearing
the
comments
from
Joe.
You
know
in
a
minute,
but
I
had
the
opportunity
to
work
closely
with
Joe
during
the
Chinatown
dig
over
the
summer
and
I
was
with
them,
maybe
maybe
eight
at
ten
times
over
the
summer
and
I
can
attest
to
the
hard-working
and
professionalism
and
determination
and
what
I?
What
I
liked
about
Joe
and
in
your
attitude
Joe?
Is
you
wanted
people
involved?
B
He
wanted
people
included
whether
they
were
working
for
the
city
or
not,
but
you
you
reached
out
to
school
districts
you
reached
out
to
tourists.
You
were
great
welcoming
person
for
the
city.
If
you
represented
the
city
well,
during
that
archaeology
dig
in
the
inn
in
Chinatown,
it
may
not
have
went
the
way
we
wanted
it
to
go,
but
I
saw
firsthand
your
professionalism
and
outstanding
hard
work
of
you,
the
team
that
the
volunteers
that
really
came
from
all
parts
of
Boston,
so
you
know
so
I'm,
looking
forward
to
hearing
from
you
testimony
Joe
thank.
A
C
The
the
funding
that
we
received
from
the
National
Endowment
for
Humanities,
first
of
all,
it
was
a
very
competitive
grant.
It
was
a
national
grant.
We
were
one
of
only
a
few
dozen
awardees
and
we
tied
for
the
largest
grant
award
in
the
country,
along
with
other
notable
institutions,
including
Yale
and
the
getty
museum.
So
it's
a
real
great
acknowledgement
by
the
federal
government
and
by
this
funding
agency
I'm
acknowledging
the
work
that
we've
done,
but
also
our
techniques
and
our
policies
for
archaeological
collections
work.
C
The
funding
will
digitize
five
archaeological
sites
that
have
been
excavated
since
the
1980s
and
1990s
they're
part
of
our
legacy
collections
work
that
is
difficult
to
process
without
additional
funding.
Because
of
all
the
work
that
we
do
each
year
creates
a
workload
that
we
can
satisfy
with
our
current
staffing.
But
it's
difficult
to
go
back
to
our
older
collections
and
get
them
up
to
modern
standards,
both
archaeology
and
for
research
and
historians.
C
As
part
of
this
grant
implicitly
putting
photos
online,
and
then
we
already
have
an
agreement
with
the
Commonwealth
Museum
at
the
state's
office
in
the
archives
building
to
create
individual
exhibits
on
each
one
of
these
collections,
so
they'll
be
approximately
a
one-year
exhibit.
That's
kind
of
still
in
the
works
is
exact
timing
for
each
of
these
five
sites.
In
addition,
a
permanent
online
exhibit
and
a
searchable
database
so
that
the
public
will
be
able
to
see
what
we've
got.
Frankly.
C
I
will
be
able
to
see
what
we
have
in
these
collections
for
the
first
time
ever
in
the
history,
since
they've
been
dug
up,
most
of
them
20
to
30
years
ago
and
I'm
also
very
happy
that
they
represented
multiple
neighborhoods
in
the
city.
It's
not
just
downtown
sites
but
including
the
North
End
downtown
of
West
Roxbury.
That's.
A
C
27
to
29
Endicott
Street,
it
was
a
bustling
neighborhood
prior
to
the
construction
of
the
raised
highway
through
downtown.
It
was
one
of
the
many
properties
between
what
we
consider
the
North
End
and
downtown
today
that
were
demolished
as
part
of
the
construction.
The
original
construction
of
the
rais'd
highway
yeah.
A
C
The
Big
Dig
project
there
was
multiple
archaeological
surveys.
It
happened
downtown,
especially
along
the
Rose
Kennedy
Greenway.
Today
the
site
is
kind
of
in
a
small
pocket
Park
in
between
the
Rose
Canyon
Greenway
and
Endicott
Street,
where
it
starts
today,
and
it
was
in
1840s
50s
and
60s
brothel
yeah.
What.
C
It
was
the
madam
that
ran.
It
was
her.
Last
name
was
lake,
but
there
was
three
Madam's
that
ran
it
over
the
course
of
the
history.
A
woman
from
bu
just
finished
her
dissertation
on
the
project
and
she's
in
the
process
of
publishing
her
results,
but
we're
gonna
be
digitizing.
The
collections
two
to
couple
with.
D
C
District,
her
dissertation
and
she
focused
on
the
sensory
aspects
of
the
site,
so
sights
sounds,
smells
feelings
and
it's
it's
a
remarkable
collection.
It
was
an.
It
was
an
outhouse
with
many
nearly
intact
ceramics
and
glass
shoes,
hygiene
things.
It's
gonna
be
more
one
of
the
more
visually
engaging
sites,
because
everything
is
nearly
intact.
Yeah.
A
Yeah,
that's
fantastic
and
then
brook
farm
obviously
is
in
my
district
I
know.
Well,
there's
a
great
group:
that's
formed
the
Friends
of
new
Brook
Farm.
Oh
I
know
we're
looking
to
sort
of
bring
it
back
to
its
a
you
know.
Once
glory.
Has
there
been
any
talk?
I
know
that's
close
to
these
city
archives.
Has
there
been
any
talk
about
maybe
having
an
exhibit
so
you're
gonna?
C
C
So
if
there's
a
location
that
can't
hold
artifacts
on
exhibit
the
panels
themselves
will
have
a
visual
representation
of
the
site
so
that
that
may
be
slightly
more
flexible
for
where
that
can
end
up
I'm,
including
libraries,
all
the
libraries
typically
have
exhibit
space
as
well.
So
it's
it's!
The
start
of
the
project
is
the
archives,
the
State
Archives
Commonwealth
Museum
and
then
from
there
it
can
go
pretty
much
anywhere.
That's
fantastic!
That's
great!.
A
C
A
Is
what
really
intrigues
me
so
I
look
I,
love
that
you're
open
to
and
encouraging
the
idea
of
having
a
rotating
sort
of
show
on
the
road
of
this
and
some
of
your
other
work.
I
think
in
our
libraries,
and
perhaps
the
community
centers
is
a
great
thing
that
we
can.
We
can
take
from
this.
So
that's
all
I.
Have
you
have
any
questions
specifically
councillor
Flynn
yeah,.
B
B
If
we
are
able
to
share
that
artifacts
and
provide
some
education
through
the
library
system,
I
think
that'd
be
a
great
a
great
opportunity
for
the
residents
of
Boston,
so
I
would
I
would
join
my
colleague,
counselor
Malley
and
highly
recommending
if
we
can
continue
working
with
the
Public
Library
System
on
on
such
a
proposal,
though
it'd
be
exceptional,
can
you
give
me
a
little
background
on
the
the
Boston
Common
site?
Sure.
C
So
the
primary
collection
from
Boston
Common
was
excavated
in
1986
as
part
of
the
Boston
Common
lighting
project
yeah.
Essentially,
if
you
go
out
to
the
common
today
everywhere
that
you
see
a
light,
pole
was
an
archaeological
test
unit
back
in
the
mid-1980s.
It
was
a
dig
executed
by
my
predecessor,
Stephen
Hendry,
as
part
of
the
city
archaeology
program,
working
with
the
parks
department.
It
produced
about
a
hundred
boxes
of
artifacts,
which
is
approximately
80,000
artifacts,
so
that
we
will
have
an
exact
number
in
about
six
to
nine
months.
C
It
represents
one
of
the
most
intact
archeological
landscapes
that
remain
downtown
in
Boston.
There's
been
a
lot
of
modifications
to
the
common,
but
in
essence
it
remains
essentially
the
way
it
looked
in
1630
comparatively
to
other
parts
of
the
city.
So,
in
addition
to
having
very
important
in
almost
unique
Revolutionary
War
encampment
sites
which
otherwise
have
been
lost
due
to
development
over
the
years,
we
have
a
Revolutionary
War
encampment.
C
It
has
two
very
intact
Native
American
sites
that
represent
the
history
of
Boston
prior
to
1630,
and
we
have
a
very
strong
working
relationship
with
the
Massachusetts
Ribe,
whose
ancestors
would
have
been
contributing.
These
artifacts,
in
addition
to
the
muck
in
the
Wampanoag
and
so
yeah.
So
the
collection
is,
is
quite
large
and
very
diverse
and
represents
approximately
7,000
years
of
history,
although
mostly
artifacts
are
19th
century
Victorian
and
later.
B
That's
excellent
note
I'd
be
interested
in
learning
more
about
that
that
project
I
know
you
mentioned
the
there
might
be
some
Native
American
artifacts
on
the
Boston
Common
would
I
think
the
public
would
love
to
see
that
and
learn
about
that
I.
Think.
That's
one
group
that
you
know
I
think
we
need
to
do
a
better
job
of
telling
their
story
the
incredible
contributions
they
have
made
to
well
to
our
city
to
our
country.
B
When
you
look
at
the
Navajo
Navajo
code
talkers
during
during
World
War,
two
I
mean
those
were
the
bravest
soldiers
airmen
that
one
that
we
had
and
they
really
didn't
get
the
public
recognition
for
so
many
rizz
for
so
many
years.
Up
until
recently,
so
I
South
Boston,
you
actually
used
to
have
a
Native
American
community,
going
back
going
back,
70
or
80
years,
and
so
this
is
something
that
I
would
like
to
learn
more
about.
B
C
C
Back
to
the
American
Revolution,
many
of
them
are
yet.
Essentially,
the
entire
collection
is
late,
17th
to
18th
century,
almost
nothing
from
the
19th
century
or
later
included
in
that
collection,
and
it
represents
between
the
two
collections
about
a
hundred
and
twenty
thousand
artifacts,
many
of
which
are
quite
large
as
they
and
visually
engaging
because
they
represent
items
we're
coming
in
as
part
of
the
transatlantic
trade.
And
then,
if
things
broke,
they
were
thrown
immediately
into
the
into
town
dock
in
order
to
basically
just
make
them
go
away
because
they
were
no
longer
saleable.
B
Excellent,
no
I
just
want
to
say
thank
you
Joe
for
the
great
work
that
you
are
doing,
I
see,
so
you
all
some
are
working
hard
in
Chinatown
and
I.
I
appreciate
the
sweat
and
the
hard
work
and
determination
that
you've
put
in
over
the
summer
on
that
site
and
shot
trying
to
taunt.
So
I
just
want
to
say
thank
you.
Thank
you.
Thank.
A
B
A
You
councillor
Janie
I
have
no
further
questions.
Mr.
Bagley
other
than
to
say
I
love
your
book
and
read
it,
and
thank
you
for
sharing
with
us
with
us
and
it's
really
important
the
great
work
you
do
so
it
goes
without
saying
I'll
be
enthusiastically
asking
my
colleagues
to
vote
favorably
on
this
at
our
next
meeting
on
September
11th,
and
look
forward
to
just
being
kept
abreast
of
the
great
progress
that
you're
making
I
think
it's
a
really
exciting
and
congratulations
on
winning
this
grant.
Thank
you
very
much
appreciate
your
time.