Since 2008, the Department of
Anthropology at Rice University has been collaborating
with the Rutherford
B. H. Yates Museum and the Community
Archaeology Research Institute, Inc. to conduct
archaeological research in Houston's Fourth Ward, also
known as Freedman's Town.
Rice University's archaeological research in Freedman's
Town is centered on the historic properties owned by the
Rutherford B. Yates Trust. These properties include
some of the lots and standing houses that housed the early
inhabitants of Freedman's Town, formerly enslaved people
who began to purchase property south of Buffalo Bayou and
just west of present-day downtown Houston in 1866, just a
year after emancipation. Among the newcomers was
John (Jack) Yates, the father of Rutherford and an
important community organizer. The R.H. Yates house
still stands and has been restored by the Trust. The
Jack Yates house once stood on the adjacent lot. With the
permission and collaboration of the Trust Board members
and the Yates Community Archaeology Project, Rice
students excavate every spring semester on one of the
properties as part of the Archaeology Field Techniques
class. Our goal is to help illuminate an
understudied and under-acknowledged part of Houston's
early history through recovery of the artifacts and other
materials associated with the homes of these Freedman's
Town inhabitants.
Below is a short, multimedia
introduction to Freedman's Town, featuring the
reminiscences of longtime residents Sally Wickers and
Lue Williams:
Freedman's Town, Houston, Texas from Jeffrey Fleisher on Vimeo.
More information on the history of Freedman's Town and the Yates Community Archaeology Project is available here.