NCID-1020
Blair Zaid
Lecturer in Department of Anthropology
University of Michigan
Education/Degree:
1 African American & African Studies and Anthropology (Michigan State University)
About
Blair Rose Zaid holds a dual-PhD in African American and African studies and in anthropology from Michigan State University. Dr. Zaid researches the roles multi-regional frontiers play in diasporal formation processes.She has over 15 years of archaeological and anthropological field work in the US, the Caribbean, and Africa. Her current research focuses on African American freedom practices in 19th and early 20th century Mid-West and Mid-Atlantic communities.
Current Work
Dr. Zaid's current project is focused on the ways free African descendants lived, worked, and sought leisure in the 19th and 20th century Midwest. The project takes a comparative approach by examining the material record at Gordon Hall in Dexter, Michigan, a potential site of the underground railroad and the leisure practices of Idlewild, Michigan to begin in the 2020 summer. Through conducting archaeology research at both si,EST Dr. Zaid is identifying the various forms of freedom for African descendants in early Michigan.
Research Area Keyword(s)
Archaeology, Freedom Seekers, Idlewild, Michigan, Underground Railroad