Breaking ground just after the holiday on Friday July 5, the Foothill College Archaeology Field School Program began their summer project excavating and investigating the Kelsey Creek Schoolhouse on Finely East Road. Finding several artifacts on site, the group will take this data back to their class for final reports while also finding ways to remain involved in and give back to the community that has given so much to them.
For nine days, Foothill College students and staff, as well as other local archaeologists, camped at the Clear Lake State Park and gathered at the site from noon to 6 p.m. daily working “diligently throughout this summer heat” according to Katherine Aeschbacher.
Aeschbacher is currently an undergrad student at UC Berkeley who is attending the Foothill College Archaeology Field School program this summer with Professor Samuel Connell. Connell is the director of this program as well as a professor at Foothill College, who resides in Scotts Valley. This is the second time Connell has brought this group to Lake County, first arriving in 2021 for a field study of the Ely Stage Shop.
He said, “People like the small communities, the small town, a lot of them come from places where they don’t see that. Understanding the community and the important things to the people here, the context, is important.” Connell also shared that the program has gained popularity as it offers a much more cost effective and much less time consuming certification, as compared to other field study programs that require a six plus week commitment on site and cost a lot more money. Due to these facts, there were student participants in this program from all over the country. Tanya Bertone, who is also from Berkeley, shared “You get a much more diverse group here, there are a lot of parents, this year there are people looking to do career changes, students who went back and non-traditional students going to school not in their 20s.” She continued “It’s a great inclusive field school.”
Leslie Nguyen, an archaeology student from Mountain House, explained the seven sites dug out for excavation, which were strategically placed in order to try and find important spaces like the carriage house and privy which could help the students contextualize the history of the schoolhouse. Among the artifacts found were various glass bottles, some with intact labels, lace from clothing, several horse shoes, pencils, slates and chalk. Also found were many photographs and also fragments of broken pottery, which Nguyen noted was of Asian origin stating “There were a lot of Asian immigrants in this area at that time.” Each item was carefully extracted from its resting place and put into labeled bags and then packed away for later studies. These artifacts will help the class better understand the everyday life for students of the schoolhouse as well as the community around it.
Aeschbacher shared that the group also used an auger to take soil samples from deeper sections in hopes of “finding out the mystery of when the school was actually put here.” She expressed her gratitude for the local library and their willingness to help the group scour old newspapers looking for clues to help guide their study. With the help of local archaeologist Maureen Carpenter, as well as several other local passersby, the group learned that the school was decommissioned around 1920 when it was absorbed by the local Kelseyville School District. Carpenter has worked with Connell on sites all over the world, sharing “This is one of the best groups, they are all so sweet and helpful.”
Through her work here at the schoolhouse, Nerllyn Eskenassy, a student from Los Angeles, was inspired by this project and the surrounding community, deciding to seize an opportunity and complete her Legacy Project here in Lake County. In an elaborate partnership, Eskenassy has reached out to Big Valley Rancheria to formulate a scholarship through Foothill College funded by both herself as well as Big Valley Rancheria. Beginning next year, the college will be able to enroll three Lake County local Pomo students into the archaeology program, at no cost to them, and Eskenassy stated “There is potential for them to become the future site monitors here” setting these youth up for long time success. Eskenassy is honored that the Big Valley Tribe has voted to name the scholarship after her, the Nerllyn Esenassy Scholarship.
