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Culture, Society & Justice

Physical Address:
Student Health Center, 3rd Floor

Mailing Address:
Culture, Society & Justice Department
University of Idaho
875 Perimeter Drive MS 4207
Moscow, ID 83844-1110

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Physical Address:
101 Phinney Hall

Mailing Address:
Culture, Society & Justice Department
University of Idaho
875 Perimeter Drive MS 1110
Moscow, ID 83844-1110

Map

Physical Address:
404 Sweet Avenue

Mailing Address:
Asian American Comparative Collection
University of Idaho
875 Perimeter Drive MS 1111
Moscow, Idaho 83844-1111

Phone: 208-885-7075

Web: aacc

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Archaeological dig uncovers the ‘other side’ of Boise history

UI students excavating an archaeological site
Graduate students Lindsay Kiel, right, and Michelle Sing measure and create a drawing of the various layers of sediment and debris found behind the Hayman House at the River Street site. Photos by Darin Oswald for the Idaho Statesman.

Animal bones, 13 marbles, shoe leather, ceramic shards, a cherry pitter, and the remains of what may be the oldest Basque racket court in town.

The items hint at a picture of life a hundred years ago in Boise’s River Street neighborhood just north of the Boise River. Most closely associated with the city’s African-American community, the neighborhood was in reality a more diverse one with residents from the Basque Country and from Ireland. Chinatown, too, was mere blocks away.

A common thread through the diversity: “This was a block of Boise’s relatively disenfranchised,” said Mark Warner, a professor of archaeology at the University of Idaho.

The blue-collar neighborhood is the focus of a six-week archaeological dig continuing through July 3 near the corner of Ash and River streets. Much of the dig is taking place surrounding the 108-year-old Hayman House. A black woman, Erma Hayman, bought the house in 1947 after she was denied the opportunity to buy a house on the Boise Bench. She lived in the house until her death in 2009. Her family sold the house to the Capital City Development Corp. at that time.

“The big narrative of this project is finding the remains of everyday life and people largely forgotten. Working class folks,” Warner said.

A couple of weeks in, the dig uncovered the remains of an outdoor fronton — a Basque handball court — beneath a green patch of lawn owned by Boise Parks and Recreation that faces River Street. Warner believes it may be the oldest fronton in Boise, or the oldest on record. A Sanborn fire insurance map from 1912 includes the fronton as well as scores of long-gone houses.

“But just because you have a map, it doesn’t mean something is really there,” Bill White said.

In this case, it did.

Read the rest of the story and view more photos.

Culture, Society & Justice

Physical Address:
Student Health Center, 3rd Floor

Mailing Address:
Culture, Society & Justice Department
University of Idaho
875 Perimeter Drive MS 4207
Moscow, ID 83844-1110

Map

Physical Address:
101 Phinney Hall

Mailing Address:
Culture, Society & Justice Department
University of Idaho
875 Perimeter Drive MS 1110
Moscow, ID 83844-1110

Map

Physical Address:
404 Sweet Avenue

Mailing Address:
Asian American Comparative Collection
University of Idaho
875 Perimeter Drive MS 1111
Moscow, Idaho 83844-1111

Phone: 208-885-7075

Web: aacc

Faculty and Staff Map