Identity and Collective Action in a Multiracial Community

Social identities are often fluid, dynamic, and impacted by issues related to race, class, gender, and ethnicity. The research project at New Philadelphia, Illinois has uncovered archaeological assemblages related to households classified by census takers as black, mulatto, and white, which included different genders and age groups, and residents who came from different regions in the United States, or from overseas. An examination of the material culture from a sample of households in this demographically integrated community indicates that they had ready access to a broad diversity of American-made and imported household goods. Little variation existed among households when comparing these consumer goods. The homogeneity of consumer goods from African American and European American households in this community may have reflected a shared group consciousness within a local social network that existed in a region shaped by racial hostilities and strife.