Rebecca Harris

Rebecca Harris is a Registered Professional Archaeologist since 2001. Rebecca began her archaeology career as a participant in a Public Archaeology "summer camp" program while in junior high in the 1980s. Rebecca has a BA from the University of Florida in Anthropology & Classical Archaeology, her MA from Florida Atlantic University in Anthropology. PhD studies in Archaeology at University of Oklahoma and ABD/PhD at University of Arkansas in Environmental Dynamics. For much of her career her research and work focused on the prehistory of Florida and the Southeast. Rebecca has excavated and/or studied sites throughout the Florida Peninsula from the earliest prehistoric to the modern era and was incredibly lucky to spend two years excavating at Cahokia, the largest prehistoric site in North America. Rebecca taught college for 10 years, has worked as a museum educator and director, a Federal Archaeologist for the USFS, conducted fieldwork throughout the Southeastern US, Southern Plains and Pacific Northwest for various private contract firms. Rebecca was also hired as a Forensic Archaeologist for her expert opinion. Rebecca founded the non-profit, Smyrnéa Archaeological Research Institute in 2017 to focus her attention on the Smrynéa Colony and FINALLY get to live and work in her own home town. More than anything, Rebecca loves to share her love and enthusiasm about archaeology with the public and get them involved in discovering our collective past.

Kate Wright

I've been a professional archaeologist for 25 years in the southeast US, the SW US, and the Great Plains. I am fascinated by everything in the past. With my best friend and colleague, Rebecca Harris, we have started the Smyrnéa Archaeological Research Institute in New Smyrna Beach, Florida (www.nsb.archaeology.org). Our focus is the archaeology and history of New Smyrna Beach, and we have a strong public archaeology mission. We have long-term teaching module presentations at the middle school, informative public speaking engagements at civic clubs and libraries, archaeology summer camps for kids, and professional development workshops for primary and secondary educators.

In support of SARI's public archaeology mission, we have started the Westside Archaeology Project which focuses on the African American archaeology of the historic Westside neighborhood of New Smyrna Beach. Our controlled surface collections began at a parcel that had as many as 12 structures on it in 1916 according to the Sanborn fire insurance maps. There are no structures on the parcel now. The amount of cultural material on the surface led us to begin our research there. We have recently begun subsurface testing of this area, and we hope our research will add to the scant published data of late nineteenth and early twentieth century African American neighborhood culture and organization in small Florida coastal communities.

Our offices are located in a very special building. It was originally constructed in 1892 as the St. Paul ME Church. The style is vernacular gothic, and except for a converted porch to bathroom project in 1957, the building is original. We are beginning the HABS documentation on the structure this summer. Our long-term plans include adding the structure to the NRHP and restoring it to its original, charming state so it can become a place for gathering and learning in the Westside neighborhood once again.