SPIRITS OF THE BLACK CAT TAVERN: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY AT A TENNESSEE CAVE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF PROHIBITION

dc.contributor.advisorSikes, Kathryn
dc.contributor.authorLondon-Sherer, Susan Lynne
dc.contributor.committeememberWest, Carroll
dc.contributor.departmentHistoryen_US
dc.date.accessioned2017-10-04T20:17:44Z
dc.date.available2017-10-04T20:17:44Z
dc.date.issued2017-07-11
dc.description.abstractLocal folklore in Rutherford County, Tennessee suggests that the Black Cat Cave archaeological site (40RD299) concealed an illegal speakeasy during the prohibition era. In 2014, MTSU students and professors conducted an archaeological investigation at the heavily disturbed cave site. This thesis focuses on testing local reports of the cave’s use as a speakeasy through an examination of the modern, twentieth-century bottle glass and metal bottle caps recovered during the 2014 investigation. Using historical archaeology methods, this thesis incorporates: archaeological laboratory procedures, including cataloguing the historic bottle glass and cap collection, archival research into earliest possible manufacture dates, primary source archival research into contemporaneous newspaper articles, and folklore or oral accounts of people who shared their personal experiences at the Black Cat Tavern during prohibition. This thesis recognizes the equal importance of artifact analysis and social historical context and combines them in a material culture study that addresses the local stories of illegal drinking that took place in the subterranean environment.
dc.description.degreeM.A.
dc.identifier.urihttp://jewlscholar.mtsu.edu/xmlui/handle/mtsu/5465
dc.publisherMiddle Tennessee State University
dc.subjectCaves
dc.subjectHistorical Archaeology
dc.subjectProhibition
dc.subjectSpeakeasy
dc.subjectTennessee
dc.subject.umiAmerican history
dc.subject.umiArchaeology
dc.subject.umiFolklore
dc.thesis.degreegrantorMiddle Tennessee State University
dc.thesis.degreelevelMasters
dc.titleSPIRITS OF THE BLACK CAT TAVERN: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY AT A TENNESSEE CAVE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF PROHIBITION
dc.typeThesis

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