L. Chardé Reid
L. Chardé Reid is a historical archaeology doctoral candidate at William & Mary. She has over twelve-years of experience in collections management, geographic information systems (GIS), compliance review, cultural resource management, and engaged archaeology.
Her dissertation, Beyond the Shores: An Archaeological Exploration of Racial Formation, Self-Making, and Community on Mulberry Island, Virginia (1619-1705), is an interdisciplinary study of how the emergent process of racialization led to a reconceptualization of gender, class, and sociopolitical relationships in seventeenth-century Virginia. Her field work is based in southeast Virginia, where she works alongside members of a local descendant community to explore the lives of their ancestors. She uses archaeological objects along with archival documents and oral histories to better understand the ways African-descended people negotiate the transforming social landscapes of settler-colonial Virginia.
Recently, she was awarded a Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship (AY 2023-2024) which will support completion of her doctoral research and writing.