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Archeological Investigations
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Archeological deposits are non-renewable resources that can provide information about past social, economic, and environmental systems not available through historic documents. Archeological resources can sometimes be found in unexpected places such as urban neighborhoods. Renovations necessary to convert the Monroe Elementary School into a modern visitor's center threatened archeological resources.

Ground-penetrating radar survey in front of Monroe Elementary School.

The existence of these resources were deemed likely based on a geophysical survey combined with historic documentation (primarily Sanborn Fire Insurance Co. maps). Preliminary research suggested that remnants from 18 structures were still intact on the Monroe Elementary School property.

In order to help preserve the archeological remains at BRVB, Midwest Archeological Center (MWAC) staff provided onsite technical guidance and advice to the construction crews, documented any structural remnants that were uncovered, and collected a sample of artifacts that would provide insights into the history of the Monroe Elementary School neighborhood. From 2001 through 2003, the MWAC crew was able to gather valuable new information about several residential structures and other neighborhood features on the BRVB property.

Monroe Street Residential Neighborhood
Utilizing Sanborn Fire Insurance Co. maps from 1889-1913 archeololgists were able to accurately reconstruct the number and location of historic structures that had existed in the Monroe Street neighborhood. The outlines of structures illustrated on each map were digitized and then superimposed over a map of the Monroe Elementary School property as it exists today. This composite map guided archeological investigations in several areas surrounding the Monroe Elementary School and helped confirm the locations of historic structures dating to the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Archeological research has confirmed the presence of at least 5 of the 18 historically documented structures on Lots 505–529, including the structural foundation of the 19th-century Monroe School. The recording of structural foundations was conducted as construction work progressed around the school building. Intact structural foundations were uncovered on the east, west, and north sides of the Monroe Elementary School, representing approximately sixty years of occupation. The combined historical and archeological records have demonstrated that the Monroe School neighborhood was probably a mixed-ethnicity, working-class community made up of single family residences that typically incorporated a frame or brick main house and several associated outbuildings along the western side of the property near the alley.

Constructed in 1874, the Monroe School was one of the first African-American schools in the city. By 1886, the City of Topeka had constructed five schools for African-American students: Buchanan, Douglas, Lane, Madison, and Monroe (Franklin Weekly 1999:47). Academic curricula and environmental conditions within African-American schools were poor and substandard when compared to Euroamerican schools. Thomas Cox (1982:112-113) has cited an 1879 Colored Citizen newspaper article stating “the management of the Monroe Street school has been such that many children in it are just where they were 2–3 years ago, and it is our deliberate opinion that they are purposely kept back to prevent their entering a mixed school.” Other African-American schools were also described as “unsanitary, inconvenient, undesirable, and a veritable cesspool.” The substandard school conditions and second-class education provided to African-American children continued to be a significant racial issue throughout most of the 20th century, culminating with the Oliver Brown, et al. v. Board of Education of Topeka litigation.

Playground Investigations
Archeological monitoring was also conducted during the installation of a geothermal well system for heating and cooling the new Monroe Elementary School Visitor Center. MWAC archeologists monitored each trench excavation during the installation of the geothermal system in the Playground on the east side of Monroe Street across from the Monroe Elementary School. The excavation of nine trenches revealed the presence of several archeological features and resulted in the recovery of hundreds of artifacts that contribute significant information related to the late-19th and early-20th-century Monroe School neighborhood community. A Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver was used to record the well locations, feature locations, and the length of each trench. Utilizing GPS to record site information and features provides precise (within 1 meter) measurement and location information that is easily transferred into Geographic Information System (GIS) software packages.

During the trenching for the geothermal well system, a historic dump was discovered beneath the surface of the playground on the east side of Monroe Street. It contains significant concentrations of late-19th- and early-20th-century material culture. The playground dump feature includes extensive buried deposits of historic debris including construction materials and artifacts that had been deposited prior to the field’s use as a playground. This dump assemblage provides a useful comparative contrast to the residential materials and features that were recovered from the west side of Monroe Street. NEXT >>

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