Our Team

Claire Ross is currently a second-year student in the Historical Archaeology master’s program at UMass Boston. She graduated from the University of Mary Washington in 2021 with majors in Anthropology and Historic Preservation. During her time at UMW, Claire developed a passion for a multidisciplinary approach to studying the past, blending archaeology, architectural history, and documentary research. After graduating, Claire worked as an archaeological technician in cultural resource management and at George Washington’s Mount Vernon. She currently collaborates with fellow NEAAAL members on projects related to Sylvester Manor, including genealogical and document research, public outreach, and report writing. Claire’s research interests focus on 19th-century material culture, the built environment, and the intersections of gender and race. Her thesis explores the archaeology of Sylvester Manor’s 19th-century dairy, its associated midden, and the role of Black women’s labor in the operation of the estate.

Samantha Side is currently a second-year student in the Historical Archaeology master’s program at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Sam graduated from the University of Delaware with a major in Anthropology and a minor in Biology. During her undergraduate education, she interned at the State of Delaware’s office of Historic and Cultural affairs. It was through this internship that Sam learned ceramic identification, and found an interest in small finds, especially items of personal adornment. Sam’s Master’s thesis uses small finds materials as well as documentary evidence to better understand the types of labor that European settler women were doing during the early colonial provisioning plantation period at Sylvester Manor. In doing this, she aims to understand how European women were participating in the creation and reproduction of forms of power that aided in the growth of their family’s wealth, the exchange and spread of colonial ideology, and the exploitation of those whose labor they profited from.

Ella Virkler is currently a first-year student in the Historical Archaeology master’s program at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She graduated from Wake Forest University in the spring of 2024 with majors in Anthropology and History and a minor in Jewish Studies. While at Wake, she worked in archaeological laboratories and conducted projects ranging from ceramics to faunal materials. At UMB, she is researching the faunal remains at Sylvester Manor, where she is particularly interested in gathering data regarding the cattle that were raised, lived, and died on the property.