By Jennifer Kiilerich
Teenagers in the School for Science and Math at Vanderbilt (SSMV), staff with the Vanderbilt University Museum of Art (VUMA) and Nashville Metro Historical Commission archaeologists recently joined forces in a unique collaboration.
Beginning in January 2025 with support from Vanderbilt's Community Engagement Collaboration Fund, three SSMV students sorted, cleaned and curated artifacts from the Metro Historical Commission's Church Street collection. Their work culminated in a June exhibit at VUMA, "Unearthing Nashville: Digging Deeper and Preserving the Past," which depicted a day in the life of 1800s Nashville.
"The core of VUMA's mission is to increase access to the collection and help students develop the skills to engage with and steward our cultural heritage," said Amanda Hellman, director of VUMA, "and those goals were embodied with this project."
Objects with a story to tell
The student archaeologists, Avery Weber, Mumtoza Abdusattorova and Lydia Harrell, are now juniors in the SSMV. Part of the Collaborative for STEM Education and Outreach within Peabody College of education and human development, the SSMV prepares Metro Nashville Public Schools students for college studies and STEM career success through experiential science learning at Vanderbilt.
The high school scholars' museum display cases were adorned with glazed bowls, earthenware, colorful ceramic fragments of plates (with knife marks indicating many enjoyed meals), and a variety of glassware-like hand-blown green-bottle and windowpane pieces. There were also some unusual metal items, like a spigot tap used for beer, wine or liquor barrels, and a pocket watch turner, each painting a deeper picture of life in early Nashville.
Now a parking lot, the site where these items were excavated once housed hotels and warehouses, sat near a courthouse, and-as far back as 1804-hosted a tavern and two shops, learned the students.
"One interesting ceramic to note," said Abdusattorova, "would be the mocha bowl with a fern-like design which was created using urine. Learning about what they added to make glasses certain colors or designs truly let me look back to the past and see the artistry of Nashvillians in the 1800s."
Opening day
Nashville Vice Mayor Angie Henderson, Metro Historical Commission Director Tim Walker and VUMA senior associate curator of campus and community engagement, Mary Anne Caton, were honored guests at the exhibit's June 12 opening. Approximately 80 SSMV students also joined in, alongside faculty, project collaborators, parents and Vanderbilt community members.
A highlight for Abdusattorova, who attends Hume Fogg Academic High School, was interacting with Henderson, Walker and Caton. "It was kind of intimidating," she said, "but their insightful questions made me more at ease. It was wonderful to listen to their comments and answer questions about our research and exhibition."
Archeology as a launching pad
The SSMV offers a range of multidisciplinary projects to sophomores who are preparing for their junior-year research internships in Vanderbilt laboratories. The experiences serve as a "trial" for fields of research they may want to pursue.
"I genuinely enjoyed working on this project," said Nashville School of the Arts student Avery Weber. "I'm excited for my lab because I think I found sections of science that I want to look into, when before I think I felt very lost."
Adam Fracchia, the city archeologist with the Metro Historical Commission, worked closely with the young scholars to catalogue and organize artifacts. They also collaborated with VUMA's Amanda Hellman and Rachelle Wilson, VUMA registrar.
"By connecting historical artifacts to current urban development in a growing city like Nashville, the project applied systems thinking to explore how the past informs the present," said SSMV director Menton Deweese.
The endeavor also illustrates a core focus of the SSMV, she said, which is to use science as a vehicle for students to engage with their communities. The SSMV will continue its partnership with the Metro Nashville Historical Commission and is working with VUMA on ongoing collaborations.
The School for Science and Math at Vanderbilt is a partnership between Peabody's Collaborative for STEM Education and Outreach (CSEO) and Metro Nashville Public Schools. The SSMV engages local students in hands-on, research-centered interdisciplinary learning one day per week throughout high school, within an accelerated environment. It is complemented by three and six-week summer courses, and scholars finish the program with seven advanced elective credits on their high school transcript.
