On July 22, 2009, PBS will air an installment of Time Team America based on their visit to New Philadelphia, the archaeological ruins of a small town founded in 1830s Illinois by Free Frank McWorter. McWorter was an entrepreneur who bought himself and his family out of slavery in Kentucky and established this integrated town a short 15 miles east of the slave town of Hannibal, Missouri.
New Philadelphia has been investigated since 2002, and several field schools over those years have discovered a blacksmith's shop, a general store with the proprietor's house next door, the house of McWorter's daughter-in-law, as well as several other houses and structures.
The Time Team excavations focused on the search for the location of the 1850s-era African-American school house. State schools in Illinois at the time were limited to education for white kids, so New Philadelphians built what was probably a wooden structure with limited foundations. The academic report on the TTA investigations, which took place in June of 2008, is already posted at the official New Philadelphia website.
The TTA program highlights what has become a rich form of interdisciplinary historic archaeological research over the past couple of decades, involving the active participation of descendants and community members in the investigations. Time Team America: New Philadelphia includes oral history from McWorter's descendants, food history from Barbara Archer, and social history from Vibert White, Claire Martin and Kamau Kemayo. Archaeologists Terry Martin, Floyd Mansberger and site co-directors Chris Fennell and Anna Agbe-Davies also appear to give context to the site.
While the archaeology isn't of the most astonishing nature (and the weather is downright scary), the combined information revealed by the discussions between TTA and the various participants at the New Philadelphia Project is enlightening and entertaining, showing how community based efforts can produce truly rich archaeology.
Oh, and for all those archaeologists out there who have been complaining that TTA gets to dig in sand, this feature in the hard pan soil of 
TIME TEAM AMERICA geophysicist Bryan Haley uses remote sensing technology to look for the remains of a 19th century schoolhouse in New Philadelphia, Illinois. Photo by Doug Brazil
Members of TIME TEAM AMERICA excavate at the site of New Philadelphia, Illinois.
Photo Credit: Laurance Johnson
southern central Illinois should be a refreshing reminder of what screening can really be like.
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