Keynote: Dr. William Kelso

PURCHASE PASS & PARKING

Dr. William Kelso, a Lakeside native and an American archaeologist who directed the Jamestown Rediscovery Project, will give a lecture in Hoover Auditorium Tuesday, Aug. 22 at 8 p.m. 

The Jamestown Rediscovery Project is an organized effort to uncover and preserve artifacts from the Jamestown Colony, the first permanent English settlement in North America.  

Kelso began working in field archaeology after earning a master’s degree in early American history at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. He then earned a PhD in historical archaeology from Emory University in Atlanta. 

Kelso served as commissioner of archaeology from 1971–1979 for the Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission, and he studied historical sites such as colonial farms and plantations along the James River before they were lost to real-estate development. He later was a Research Archaeologist (1979–85) and Director of Archaeology (1986–93) at Monticello, the Virginia home of former U.S. President Thomas Jefferson.  

As Kelso became an expert on colonial America, he pioneered the use of archaeology to learn about slavery during the period.