**ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE SUNSHINE: GRASS ROOTS EDUCATION THROUGH THE MEDIA
AND PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT**

Jerald T. Milanich

*Who is she that looketh forth as the dawn,*

*Fair as the moon,*

*Clear as the sun,*

*Terrible as an army with banners?*

*(Song of Songs, 6:10)*

**Introduction: An Army with Banners**

It was Tuesday, May 19, 1987, and there was the headline on the front
page of the New York Times\' science section: \"De Soto\'s Trail:
Courage and Cruelty Come Alive.\" Pulitzer Prize-winning newsman John
Noble Wilford\'s article had as a subheading, \"What may be the most
important site found so far is under study in Florida.\" The half-page
lead article, including a montage of graphics, was continued on page 3.

All in all, Wilford\'s story covered nearly a full page of the New York
Times. It was distributed in regional editions across the United States,
where it was seen by more than a million people, including the governor
and cabinet of the state of Florida who were meeting that same morning
to consider an emergency plan to initiate the purchase and preservation
of a portion of the Governor Martin site (the native Apalachee Indian
village of Anhaica where the de Soto expedition wintered in 1539-1540;
the privately-owned site, discovered by B. Calvin Jones of the Florida
Division of Historical Resources, was threated by imminent development;
the Division\'s excavations at the site were featured in the Times
story). On that Tuesday morning, I estimate that the number of people
who read and learned about the Hernando de Soto expedition and the
importance of archaeology in understanding our past was greater than all
the people who will read everything I and my colleagues will ever write,
teach, or say about the archaeology of Hernando de Soto.

**Education and the Media**

If archaeology is ever going to have the impact of \"an army with
banners,\" we must utilize the media and the public\'s interest in our
research activities as an integral part of public education efforts. If
the archaeological community is going to be successful in efforts to
preserve archaeological sites, establish and maintain adequate levels of
funding for resource management, and make known the archaeological
viewpoints on creationism and the necessity for curation of systematic
collections, we must take advantage of the public\'s interest in our
discipline. Guidelines and statements issued by professional
organizations, lapel buttons, and conferences with archaeologists
talking to one another are not going to do the job, nor is publically
emphasizing archaeological resource management and site protection as
our primary goals.

Instead, we need to go to the public and tell them about our research.
We need to bring our discipline and the information we are excavating
out into the sunshine. The best ways to do this are through the media
and in conjunction with activities that involve the public. As we
learned from the de Soto New York Times article and other similar
articles, a single story about archaeology on local television or in a
local newspaper or magazine will reach tens of thousands of people; a
story that goes national will reach millions.

Yes, we need to continue to publish our data and interpretations in our
journals, and yes, we need to continue to lobby for archaeological
resource management and to devise and refine our theories and methods of
site management. But to be successful in these endeavors we must attract
and hold the public\'s attention, interest, and support. We need to take
advantage of people\'s fascination with the past, something media
professionals have learned a long time ago. Archaeological stories sell
newspapers and boost ratings. Archaeological stories can also sell
archaeology, including resource management. However, before people can
see the worth of protecting the past, the utility of archaeology for
illuminating that past must be accepted. The American Public must be
aware of and identify with the non-anglo history of human societies in
the United States.

How can an archaeologist who never took a course in public relations
work with the media and the public to highlight archaeology? In this
article I offer some methods and ideas that I and my colleagues in
Florida have learned. Our skills in public relations are certainly not
up to the standards of American politicians or corporations, but we are
learning.

Most importantly, our efforts are paying dividends; archaeological
research is booming in Florida, as is state-legislated funding. Working
through the Florida Division of Historical Resources and with other
state agencies, the archaeological community has been successful in
pushing archaeological resource issues into the mainstream via laws and
regulations. A number of significant sites have been purchased and are
in public ownership. Some schools now have archaeological curricula and
at least some state officials see the utility of archaeology for helping
build tourism in the state.

It is no accident that these efforts correlate with a half-decade long
media blitz. Over the last five years newspapers have had a very large
number of archaeology stories that relate to specific Florida sites and
topics (Windover, Fort Mose, San Luis and other Spanish missions,
Hernando de Soto contact sites, archaeology and developers, Warm Mineral
Springs, Cutler Ridge, and various sites in southwest Florida,
Pensacola, and St. Augustine, to name some that have been featured; see
Bense this volume for a discussion of archaeology and the media in
Pensacola Florida). Legislators and state officials have supported
archaeology in Florida because they, too, read the papers.

**Fair as the Moon**

Many archaeologists, perhaps most, are loathe to allow members of the
public to visit sites during excavations. They also often work to avoid
publicity. Reporters, both newspaper and television people, might reveal
a site\'s location, leading to vandalism, or they might report facts in
a manner not to the archaeologist\'s liking. What the media sees as
important\--something often is said to be \"the oldest,\" \"the first,\"
or \"the most important\" ever found\--is not necessarily what an
archaeologist thinks is important (e.g., \"our laboratory analysis is
showing that 91% of the meat caloric intake is fish, not large mammal as
previously surmised\"). We can control graduate students and employees;
we cannot control the media. Therefore, it is better to wait until the
research is done, write our own press release or distribute a copy of
our written report, and take no chances that we might appear silly on
the nightly news.

This approach, one to which I used to adhere, probably accomplishes
exactly the opposite of what is intended. Secrecy usually is interpreted
by the public as meaning you are hiding something (gold, usually),
leading to nocturnal visits and incidents of vandalism. And rumors about
what might be going on at a site draws the interest of reporters who, as
a result of brief, unstructured telephone calls with an archaeologist or
land owner, are forced to write uniformed stories.

My approach changed five years ago while working near a small town in
west-central Florida on a de Soto-related site. Two then graduate
students, Brent Weisman and Jeffrey Mitchem, opened my eyes to
archaeology in the sunshine, to incorporating the media and the public
into field projects. I decided then that the long term goal of
archaeology was not simply to gather and interpret data about the past,
but to produce and disseminate that information to people.

**Clear as the Sun**

Here, then, are several ideas drawn from the collective experiences of
archaeologists in Florida. Archaeology in the sunshine may not work for
everyone, but it certainly has been beneficial in our state.

**Sunshine Tip 1: Make contact with the media**

Media people\--journalists, writers, and television reporters\--are
professionals as varied in personalities and abilities as are
archaeologists. All of them get paid for preparing news stories, but
there is a real hierarchy that ranges from student reporters who often
are interning with local papers and are learning the ropes to national
figures like a John Wilford Noble of the New York Times who is willing
to read the literature on a science subject, synthesize it, and prepare
a story. Most reporters do not have that latitude; they are told by a
news editor (their boss) to write or film a story about a topic, and
they do it. As one gets more established in the field, one can suggest
stories to be pursued.

Larger papers are specialized; some have science, outdoor, and
environmental writers along with sports reporters and people who cover
the social scene. Smaller papers do not have a wide variety of
specialists.

Television stations also have news editors; sometimes they are the
anchor people you see on the local six o\'clock news; sometimes they are
not. Television stations also have field reporters who cover stories;
they are the people who travel in vans with a camera person who carries
a mini-cam. Their video tapes are returned to the studios where they are
edited for airing on news programs. Unfortunately, the people who tape
the stories and do the on site interviews are not always the ones doing
the editing.

How does one make contact with the media and enter a realm so foreign to
archaeology? If you work for a college or university or a large private
firm, chances are your organization has a public relations department
that already has the contacts and can guide you. If not, the simplest
way is to call the appropriate news desk or news room and ask whoever
answers if he or she would like to do a story on your project.
Archaeology is viewed as \"good\" news; it is generally not about crime
and corruption. Media people actually like archaeology stories and they
like to visit sites and see excavations in progress. It is much more
interesting than covering a new jail dedication. Generally, with your
cooperation, they will write a good story.

Stories appear at the local level, but they can also be sent out on a
regional or national network. For instance, a written newspaper account
might be sent out on the UPI or AP wire service and read by a UPI or AP
reporter. The wire service reporters rewrite the stories and send them
on the wire to newspapers all over the country. We have had stories
written by local Florida reporters redone by UPI and appear the next day
in the San Francisco Chronicle and a few days later in the
English-language Herald Tribune distributed in Europe.

Reporters [like]{.underline} to see their stories make the big time.
They want to do well in their profession, just as we do. And do not
forget to get the names and telephone numbers of your new media
contacts. You will need one another again.

**Sunshine Tip 2: Cooperate with the media**

What do you want from the media? You want them to prepare a news story
that educates their viewers or readers about archaeology and what we can
learn about the past. Your implicit message is \"protecting
archaeological sites is important because it is from such sites that we
can learn new knowledge such as that being produced from this site (or
survey).\" What is the best way to try and head them in that direction?
First, tell the media that is one of your goals. Education is a noble
cause and the media knows it. Second, I have found that preparing a
short overview\--several pages\--on your project that can serve as sort
of a press-release/information packet for the media is a good practice.

Make it popular and non-technical so real people can understand it.
Anticipate what about the project the public might find most
interesting. What do you want them to know? If something is
controversial, say so. Include your name as author and a telephone
number where you can be contacted for additional information. The
newspaper reporters will take your literature away and may or may not
use information from it. Most often they do. If the story goes out on
the wire, the wire service writers can get your name and number from the
local reporter if they want more information. Your overview also will
serve as a quick introduction to television reporters and help to guide
their questions and their on-the-air comments. The overview also serves
as a good source of quotes that can be attributed to you.

I have found that the press overview is a great handout for students,
field participants, relatives, sponsoring agencies, etc. If you update
it regularly, when you finish the project you often have the basis of a
good popular magazine article.

**Sunshine Tip 3: Media Day**

Trying to utilize the media is work and it is time consuming. If you do
not budget your time you can be swamped. One way to use your time
efficiently and highlight the educational aspects of your project is to
integrate Media Day with Dignitary Day and Public Visitation Day. It
sounds like a zoo and it often turns out that way, but the results can
be worth it. First, invite the press for a specific time, say 9 A.M. to
noon. Have your handout information ready to give them and have
artifacts and other \"photo opportunities\" (e.g., the field crew
excavating features) available.

This also is a good time to invite appropriate dignitaries to visit the
site. Start with your boss and your firm\'s president or your
department\'s dean. Also, are there local politicians or officials that
were involved in setting up the project? How about the landowner and
officials from sanctioning state or federal agencies? Give all of them
your handout, too. Local politicians love to have the chance to say a
few informed words before cameras, and you will be giving them the
opportunity to do that [and]{.underline} to support archaeology. You
often will find that the media, administrators, politicians, and
officials all know one another and do not find it at all strange that
they are at what appears to be a contrived archaeology love-in. They
probably all were at the new jail dedication last week. The media and
people interested in establishing an image with the public have a
symbiotic relationship.

Since Media Day takes up the morning (or afternoon) anyway, I like to
use the occasion to invite the public to visit the site (this requires
advance notification to the media). Schedule 30 minute tours every hour
and assign some of the field crew to handle parking, put up ropes to
mark the tour route, and even lead tours. You or someone will also want
to give a short presentation to each tour group. The tours provide an
excellent photo opportunity for the media (\"archaeologist educates
public\"); and in reality you [are]{.underline} educating them. Your
boss and the local politicians will also smile on your foray into public
education.

Media/Dignitary/Public Visitation Day is itself a newsworthy event and
always draws attention and builds grassroots support. I have also found
that opening things up to the public answers their questions about what
is going on, generates information on other local sites and privately
held artifact collections you might otherwise know nothing about, and
instills in the local community protective feelings toward the site. And
meeting local people can lead to all sorts of things from cocktail
invitations to barbecues to marriage.

**Sunshine Tip 4: Build local support by emphasizing local archaeology**

In Florida we are fortunate to have the Florida Anthropological Society
which is largely made up of avocational archaeologists and which is
affiliated with a number of regional chapters around the state. Whenever
it is geographically appropriate, I make contact with the local chapter
if I am doing a project in their locale. But in much of Florida no
chapters exist. When that occurs, I go instead to the local historical
society. They are everywhere, it seems, and often are affiliated with
small local museums.

The members of such organizations can be invaluable. They already have
contacts with local organizations, schools, and the media. And they are
a source of information on the local archaeology. Invite the officers to
Dignitary Day and the members to Public Visitation Day. Offer to give an
evening slide presentation to their group (another photo/education
opportunity for the media). Where appropriate, help them with an
archaeology display in the local museum that focuses on your project and
the importance of [their]{.underline} local archaeological resources.

My experience is that cooperation with local groups can pay
extraordinary dividends (not the least of which was an individual that
provided more than \$70,000 for one project). Because archaeological
societies are much rarer than historical groups, many members of the
latter turn out to be persons who are actually more interested in your
project than studying genealogy. Your presence in a community will give
such people a chance to learn more about their local archaeology, and it
will draw new members to the local historical society. Everyone
benefits.

How far you want to go with your new friends depends on your resources
and the time you or your field people can commit. For instance, on our
west-central Florida project, Brent Weisman and Jeff Mitchem worked
through the local historical group to help found a sub-group interested
in archaeology. That group attracted new members to the society and
ultimately grew to more than 200 people. We gave lectures at monthly
meetings and utilized volunteers on a regular basis in our excavations
and in survey work. Most importantly we built a great deal of support
and a sense of public stewardship for the local archaeological sites and
the prehistory and history of the region. That support, coupled with
related local museum activities, attracted the notice of legislators who
in turn have been educated about archaeology.

Approximately this same approach is being applied at other locations in
Florida and is paying huge dividends in terms of support and education.
Teaching local people about local archaeology is the best way I know of
to assure long term support for archaeological research and
archaeological resources.

**Sunshine Tip 5: Teach teachers so they can teach the kids**

If you actually ever apply Sunshine Tips 1-4 to one of your archaeology
projects, it is guaranteed that you cannot escape number 5. Everything
said about school teachers is true: they are interested in education and
they will take advantage of you and your project to bring new
information to their students. But again, their goal is the same as
yours: education.

Teachers, like top-notch reporters, also are willing to put in the time
it takes to learn about a subject. When they contact me I like to send
them my hand-out and anything else that I can lay my hands on. A
bibliography that includes overviews or popular articles is also a good
idea. Teachers will take those materials and create curricula for their
students.

Part of any curriculum is probably going to be a tour of your site with
a talk from the archaeologist or at least a slide show at school. And do
not forget to send the students to see the museum exhibit you helped
with (Tip 4). I have done several Saturday workshops for school teachers
arranged by local school boards. The teachers learned a lot, and they
received school board-approved credits, which they liked. I was very
proud when one teacher in a small west Florida county sent me a copy of
the teaching materials she had prepared on Hernando de Soto and the
Florida native peoples. I now refer other teachers to her for
information.

**Sunshine Tip 6: Archaeologists are your friends; support them**

If you have read this far, you probably do not need this advice. But,
unfortunately, you will find that not all of your colleagues will
believe that public education and media coverage of archaeology are
worthwhile. Snide remarks may be made about sunshine archaeology. Such
naysayers are wrong and should stay hidden in their ivory towers.

It is much more constructive and better for the discipline if
archaeologists support one another, especially when it comes to public
and media-related activities. Once you are on a reporter\'s contact
list, you will again hear from them when news is slow. One will call and
ask if you are doing anything newsworthy. If you are not, refer them to
another archaeologist that you know has an ongoing project. Reporters
are not used to having scientists support one another. A recommendation
from you that \"so-and-so\'s Spanish mission project\" is terrific will
leave them thinking just that. And do not forget the surveys and other
contracted research projects your colleagues are doing.

United archaeologists are a potent force, especially when they include
everyone from the State Historic Preservation Officer\'s staff to the
consultant archaeologist just graduated with an M.A. degree and a
Society for Professional Archaeology license. If you have not already,
organize yourselves in some fashion and plot strategy. And that leads to
the next bit of advice.

**Sunshine Tip 7: Think big and do not be shy**

Public interest, involvement, and support mean government support.
Government support means money for research, education, and site
protection. Organized archaeologists are an effective way to afford
government the opportunity to exercise that support in meaningful ways.
Examples are local and state archaeological resource management
legislation, county and state archaeology curriculum in schools, support
for historic preservation, and support for research and museum
activities.

One the most recent examples in Florida is the \"Year of the Indian\"
program that William H. Marquardt and the Florida Museum of Natural
History have undertaken in conjunction with two local museums in the Ft.
Myers area (the Nature Center of Lee County and the Fort Myers
Historical Museum) and the Florida Division of Historical Resources.
Funded by the Florida legislature, the project involves research in
southwest Florida, media and museum/school education, and participation
by the public. It is not going to be long until every school kid and
adult in Lee County knows about the Calusa Indians and their prehistoric
ancestors and the difference between a nonagricultural and agricultural
chiefdom. And they \"will come to better understand the need to protect
and preserve the cultural riches of southwest Florida for themselves and
for future generations\" (from [Calusa News]{.underline}, 1989).

**Conclusion: Who is She that Looketh Forth as the Dawn?**

Hopefully, it is archaeology in the sunshine. Sharing our discipline
with the public can only lead to increased public support. Utilizing the
media is one of the best ways to reach that public. Giving the public
the opportunity to learn firsthand about archaeology is another. Once
people understand the contributions that archaeology can make to
understanding their past, they will also be protectors of that past.

**References Cited**

Calusa News, (1989) Newsletter of the Southwest Florida Project,
Institute of Archaeology and Paleonenvironmental Studies, Florida Museum
of Natural Resources, No. 4.