RAS Spring Lecture 2025

 We are delighted to have Dr. Alexander Smith as our speaker.  Dr. Smith is President of our Anthropology Section, Associate Professor of Anthropology at SUNY Brockport, and leads the Frost Town Archaeology Project in partnership with the Rochester Museum & Science Center. 

Professor Smith is an archaeologist who studies the Mediterranean Iron Age and episodes of colonialism and cultural interaction around the world.  For many years, he has served as a co-director of the Menorca Archaeological Project, which investigates artifacts from the Medieval Islamic communities on the island of Menorca off the coast of Spain.  He has worked at many locations, including Rome, Jordan, Montserrat (West Indies), Guatemala, Providence (Rhode Island), Naples (New York), and Sardinia.  Dr. Smith is heavily involved in public outreach in the Rochester area, working  closely with the Memorial Art Gallery (as a Creative Workshop instructor  and volunteer) and the Rochester Museum and Science Center.  He is also President of the Archeological Institute of America Rochester, NY Society.

   Professor Smith's presentation at our meeting, titled "Frost Town: Archaeology of a Finger Lakes Ghost Town", is free and open to the public.  The lecture will begin at about 7:30 p.m. at R.I.T.'s Carlson Center.  See directions below.  It is also available on Zoom.  See link below.

 Frost Town was one of the western New York’s earliest industrial mill and logging communities. It was settled in the late 18th Century and abandoned when logging ran out and the area moved to agriculture.  Since 2019, Frost Town has undergone not only physical changes but in our interpretation.  

The area’s first water-powered sawmill was built by Revolutionary War veteran Gamaliel Wilder on Briggs Creek a year after he bought the land in 1791. He was familiar with this part on the frontier, having served on the Sullivan Expedition, which invaded Iroquoia with 5,000 men of George Washington’s army in 1779.  It was chosen not only for its waterpower but also because he knew it had Seneca apple and peach orchards that hadn’t been destroyed by Sullivan’s army. This 42 square mile lot became the town of South Bristol.

MEMBERS OF THE RAS:  For information on the RAS Annual Meeting click here.