Born a Slave, Died a Pioneer

Seth Mallios is Professor of Anthropology, University History Curator, and Director of the South Coastal Information Center at San Diego State University. An archaeologist, anthropologist, and historian, Professor Mallios received his BA from the University of California, Berkeley and his MA and PhD from the University of Virginia. Dr. Mallios previously served as Site Supervisor at the 1607 James Fort archaeological site in Jamestown, Virginia. Since moving to San Diego in 2001, Professor Mallios has spearheaded six active research projects resulting in nine books, dozens of articles, and nearly $2 million in over 80 extramural grants, contracts, and awards.

• List of illustrationsAcknowledgementsPrologueIntroductionChapter 1. History, His Story, and HistoriographyChapter 2. The Man, the Myth, the LegendChapter 3. Digging for AnswersConclusionEpilogueReferences

“Drawing upon resources ranging from oral history to private letters to U.S. census records, each scenario is thoroughly analyzed by Mallios and narrowed down to the most likely timeline for Harrison. The author considers not only the accounts about Harrison, but also examines the reasons behind the various myths surrounding him…Overall, he does an excellent job of critically presenting the information while keeping the reader focused on the overall narrative… Reading all the information that examines lines of evidence from history, archaeology, and a little architectural history brings Nathan Harrison’s life to light.” • California Archaeology“This is a thoughtful, well-written manuscript addressing a multitude of questions relevant to historical archaeologists as well as to others interested in constructions of the past. It is also a manuscript with an important social justice angle; revealing the double consciousness DuBois speaks about in its outline of the life of Nathaniel Harrison – I think this is the most powerful aspect of all the data, photographic, documentary, archaeological. In many ways, it is a quintessential American story because of the fact that slavery was the American story.” • Julia A. King, St. Mary’s College of Maryland