Jean Carl Harrington (October 25, 1901 – April 19, 1998) was an American
archaeologist best known for his work at
Jamestown, Virginia and his contributions to the methodology of
historical archaeology
Historical archaeology is a form of archaeology dealing with places, things, and issues from the past or present when written records and oral traditions can inform and contextualize cultural material. These records can both complement and conflict ...
. He has been called the "father of historical archaeology in America".
Nicknames
Born Jean Carl, Harrington later went by J. C. Harrington or "Pinky." As he said in an autobiography written for his family, "My first name has been a nuisance and annoyance all my life."
On Harrington's birth certificate, for example, he was listed as female, which he later corrected.
While studying at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
, Harrington received the nickname "Pinky" for his red hair and the bright shade of pink he turned when exposed to the sun. He would be known to his friends and colleagues as "Pinky" from graduate school onward.
Biography
Early life
Harrington was born in
Millbrook, Michigan. His mother who was named Patricia and father named Edwards were both teachers, though his father later became a school superintendent. This led Harrington's family to relocate to a series of small Michigan towns, including
Scottville,
Ypsilanti, Vasser, and
Albion, during his youth.
Education
Named "Most Likely to Keep Busy" by his high school annual, Harrington, following his graduation, completed a two-year pre-engineering program at
Albion College
Albion College is a private liberal arts college in Albion, Michigan. The college was founded in 1835 and its undergraduate population was approximately 1,500 students in 2014.
They participate in NCAA Division III and the Michigan Interco ...
while working a series of jobs. He then attended the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
(MIT) in Boston, where he took courses in the architectural school for a year. Harrington completed his
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in
architectural engineering
Architectural engineers apply and theoretical knowledge to the engineering design of buildings and building systems. The goal is to engineer high performance buildings that are sustainable, economically viable and ensure the safety health.
Archi ...
at the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
in 1924.
The University of Michigan's architectural engineering program required students to complete an internship or architecture-related research project. To meet this requirement, Harrington spent the summer of 1923 with the
School for American Research in Santa Fe, New Mexico, creating measured plan drawings of Spanish mission churches. During the project, Harrington met archaeologist
Edgar Lee Hewett
Edgar Lee Hewett (November 23, 1865 – December 31, 1946) was an American archaeologist and anthropologist whose focus was the Native American communities of New Mexico and the southwestern United States. He is best known for his role in ...
and his excavation crew at the
Gran Quivira ruins. There Harrington's interest in archaeology began to develop.
Harrington returned to New Mexico following his graduation, taking a job with the
New Mexico Highway Department and later a mining company. While there, Harrington visited a number of archaeological sites, including
Alfred V. Kidder's excavations at what is now
Pecos National Historical Park
Pecos National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park in San Miguel and Santa Fe Counties, New Mexico. The park, operated by the National Park Service, encompasses thousands of acres of landscape infused with historical ...
near
Pecos, New Mexico
Pecos is a village in San Miguel County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,392 at the 2010 census, shrinking slower than other parts of San Miguel County, partly because Pecos is within commuting distance of Santa Fe. The village i ...
. Following his sister's death, Harrington returned east, taking a position with an architect in
South Bend, Indiana
South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...
until it dissolved in 1932. The
Great Depression led Harrington to reconsider his career path, and he enrolled as a graduate student in archaeology at the University of Chicago.
While at the University of Chicago, Harrington joined an expedition conducting a site survey across the
Yucatán Peninsula
The Yucatán Peninsula (, also , ; es, Península de Yucatán ) is a large peninsula in southeastern Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala. The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north ...
, funded by the
Carnegie Institution of Washington
The Carnegie Institution of Washington (the organization's legal name), known also for public purposes as the Carnegie Institution for Science (CIS), is an organization in the United States established to fund and perform scientific research. Th ...
. By 1935, Harrington had completed the requirements for a master's degree. Though he passed his written examination for a
doctoral degree
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...
in 1936, Harrington never wrote a
dissertation.
Career
Harrington's background in both architecture and archaeology made him a prime candidate to mediate conflicts that had developed between archaeologists and architects during the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...
's excavations at
Jamestown, Virginia. Approached by the National Park Service in 1936, Harrington was reluctant to take the position, noting that he was not interested in working for the government or in excavating a site that, archaeologically speaking, was quite young. When the Park Service sent him a form asking about the minimum salary he would accept, Harrington asked for "$600 more than he thought he would ever earn." He was offered a position at this salary, and he accepted.
While working at
Jamestown, Harrington married Virginia Hall Sutton, the first female Ranger ever hired by the National Park Service. Also a student from the University of Chicago, Sutton began as a Ranger Historian at Jamestown in 1937. They married in 1938, and throughout their marriage they worked together on archaeological projects. The Harringtons' first project was to remove the fences sealing the Jamestown excavations from the public and to begin public tours of the site.
Harrington completed a report of his work at the May-Hartwell site in 1938, but it was not until 1950 that any of his reports of the Jamestown excavations would be published. This was because the National Park Service envisioned their function as one of preservation and interpretation rather than research. To combat this, the Harringtons and other National Park Service employees founded the
Eastern National Park and Monument Association in 1948, which published a number of Pinky's archaeological reports. It also provided funding for publishing postcards and pamphlets detailing the history and archaeology of National Parks and Monuments.
The excavations at Jamestown continued until World War II, when Harrington was made Acting Park Superintendent of Colonial Park.
[SAA Bulletin 16(5): Jean Carl Harrington, 1901-1998]
/ref> He held this position until 1946, when he went on to become the Eastern Regional Archaeologist for the National Park Service's southeast region in Richmond, Virginia. The projects Harrington managed during his career with the National Park Service included the Jamestown Glass Works, Appomattox Court House, Fort Raleigh
Fort Raleigh National Historic Site preserves the location of Roanoke Colony, the first English settlement in the present-day United States. The site was preserved for its national significance in relation to the founding of the first English ...
in North Carolina, and George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
's Fort Necessity
Fort Necessity National Battlefield is a National Battlefield in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States, which preserves the site of the Battle of Fort Necessity. The battle, which took place on July 3, 1754, was an early battle of the ...
in Pennsylvania.
Harrington retired from his career with the National Park Service in 1965. The Harringtons continued to take part in archaeological work, however, excavating several sites in Nauvoo, Illinois for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...
and sites on West Point Military Academy
The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...
's Constitution Island
Constitution Island is in the northeastern United States, located in New York on the east side of the Hudson River, north of New York City. It is directly opposite the U.S. Military Academy Reservation at West Point and is connected t ...
. They also traveled extensively to visit international archaeological and historical sites.
Scholarship
Harrington contributed largely to the development and legitimization of historical archaeology
Historical archaeology is a form of archaeology dealing with places, things, and issues from the past or present when written records and oral traditions can inform and contextualize cultural material. These records can both complement and conflict ...
as a discipline. He published the first summary of the field in 1952 in ''Archaeology of Eastern United States'' (edited by J. B. Griffin, pp. 335–344), entitled "Historic Site Archaeology in the United States." This was followed by "Archaeology as an Auxiliary Science to American History," published in ''American Anthropologist'' in 1955 (57(6, pt. 1):1121-1130), which examined the contributions historical archaeology could make to understanding the recent past. Harrington also published a booklet for the Society for State and Local History, ''Archaeology and the Historical Society'', in 1965. This publication addressed an audience outside the field of archaeology, giving an idea of the types of questions that historical archaeology could address to augment historical research.
Both Pinky and Virginia Harrington were involved in the organization of the Society for Historical Archaeology The Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA) is a professional organization of scholars concerned with the archaeology of the modern world (15th century-present). Founded in 1967, the SHA promotes scholarly research and the dissemination of knowledg ...
, beginning with its first meeting in 1967.
In addition, Harrington's article "Dating Stem Fragments of Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Clay Tobacco Pipes," published by the Archaeological Society of Virginia in 1954 (''Quarterly Bulletin of the Archaeological Society of Virginia'' 9(1):10-14), presented a series of histograms that showed bore diameters of pipe stems decreasing over time. This data, converted into a regression formula by Lewis Binford, is still used to date pipe stem fragments.
Accolades
In, 1952 Harrington received the Citation for Distinguished Service from the United States Secretary of the Interior
The United States secretary of the interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land along with natur ...
, an award usually given to high-ranking government officials or as a posthumous recognition of major contributions.
In 1981, the Harringtons created the J.C. Harrington Medal, the Society for Historical Archaeology's award recognizing scholastic contributions to the discipline. Pinky Harrington received the first medal at the society's 1982 annual meeting in Philadelphia, and it has been presented yearly since. Other recipients have included John L. Cotter (1984), Edward B. Jelks
Edward Baker Jelks (September 10, 1922 – December 22, 2021) was an American archaeologist trained as a prehistorian yet known for his contributions to historical archaeology and leadership roles in multiple anthropological organizations, incl ...
(1988), and James Deetz
James Deetz (February 8, 1930 – November 25, 2000) was an American anthropologist, often known as one of the fathers of historical archaeology. His work focused on culture change and the cultural aspects inherent in the historic and archae ...
(1997).
See also
*Ivor Noël Hume
Ivor Noël Hume, OBE (30 September 1927 – 4 February 2017) was a British-born archaeologist who did research in the United States. A former director of Colonial Williamsburg’s archaeological research program and the author of more than 20 bo ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrington, J.C.
1901 births
1998 deaths
Jamestown, Virginia
University of Michigan College of Engineering alumni
People from Mecosta County, Michigan
Albion College alumni
MIT School of Architecture and Planning alumni
20th-century American archaeologists
Historians from Michigan