Is It Trash Or Treasure – Get The Answer From Urban Archaeologist Joan Geismar’s Free Lecture Tuesday January 12 At Roosevelt Island Public Library Branch – Sponsored By Roosevelt Island Historical Society And Amalgamated Bank

The Roosevelt Island Historical Society (RIHS) and Amalgamated Bank invite you to their first 2016 Free Lecture at the Roosevelt Island NY Public Library Branch. According to RIHS:

Map of New York City, New York Department of Health, 1874, Library Of Congress

The Roosevelt Island Historical Society and
Amalgamated Bank
Present a Free Lecture

Is it Trash or is it Treasure?

by Urban Archaeologist Joan H. Geismar, Ph.D.
New York Public Library Branch on Roosevelt Island
Tuesday, January 12, 2016 at 6:30 p.m.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and even garbage can be beautiful. To the municipality, garbage is a constant headache. To the citys residents, it is a disagreeable nuisance. Joan H. Geismar, Ph.D., will explain how garbage is a treasure trove of information to the urban archaeologist in a lecture at the New York Public Library Branch on Roosevelt Island, on Tuesday, January 12, 2016 at 6:30 p.m.

As an example, an urban archaeological sitethe 175 Water Street block in lower Manhattaninvites the question: Is it Trash or is it Treasure? Literally created from 18th-century detritus, and then the repository of 18th- and 19th-century trash, the blocks debris included a merchant ship that was sunk to structure the garbage-laden landfill. The derelict hulk was the sites most extraordinary example of urban trash, as well as its most spectacular artifact.

Learn about the ship and the more than 350,000 less-sensational artifacts recovered from the site, as well as the research prompted by the finds in Dr. Geismar’s lecture, sponsored by the Roosevelt Island Historical Society, and supported by Amalgamated Bank.

The event is FREE and open to the public. It is the first in a series of spring lectures sponsored by the Roosevelt Island Historical Society. Save the dates below for the remaining lectures in the series:

2/9/16 Jon Crispin: The Suitcases from Willard Hospital
3/8/16 Liz McEnaney: S.S. Columbia Project
4/12/16 Jane Brickman: Women in Health

The Roosevelt Island NY Public Library branch is at 524 Main Street.

Here’s more on NYC Urban Archaeology beneath the city streets

and information on Urban Archaeologist Joan Geismar is available at her web site.

I wonder what would be found beneath Roosevelt Island?