“How did the lime industry impact the lives of local inhabitants and transform
Montserrat’s socioeconomic relations and physical landscape?”
Montserrat’s socioeconomic relations and physical landscape?”
CURRENT WORK
The Post-Emancipation ISLND Project
Industrial Sites, Labor Networks, and their Dynamics
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The Post-Emancipation ISLND (Industrial Sites, Labor Networks, and their Dynamics) Project is an archaeological and public heritage initiative currently centered on Richmond Hill Estate in Montserrat, undertaken in collaboration with the Montserrat National Trust.
The project combines site survey, archival research, oral history, and archaeological investigation to document how the estate complex was used over time, with the goal of developing new museum signage and public programming that make this history accessible to visitors and the local community alike. |
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This work continues a tradition of collaborative, community-engaged archaeology on Montserrat, building on the foundational island-wide survey work of the Survey and Landscape Archaeology on Montserrat (SLAM) project, directed by John F. Cherry and Krysta Ryzewski in partnership with the Montserrat National Trust since 2009. The ISLND Project extends that tradition by focusing on Montserrat's agricultural industrial heritage during the post-emancipation period, contributing another layer to the island's post-emancipation story.
The project builds directly on my dissertation research (Ellens 2025), which centers on the historical archaeology of Montserrat's lime industry (ca. 1852–1928) — examining the social, economic, and environmental transformations that reshaped the island as its economy shifted from sugar to citrus lime production in the latter half of the nineteenth century. That shift was deeply entangled with the legacies of colonialism, the Montserrat Company and its founder's Quaker beliefs, and the ongoing struggles of the formerly enslaved as they navigated a changing post-emancipation world.
The project builds directly on my dissertation research (Ellens 2025), which centers on the historical archaeology of Montserrat's lime industry (ca. 1852–1928) — examining the social, economic, and environmental transformations that reshaped the island as its economy shifted from sugar to citrus lime production in the latter half of the nineteenth century. That shift was deeply entangled with the legacies of colonialism, the Montserrat Company and its founder's Quaker beliefs, and the ongoing struggles of the formerly enslaved as they navigated a changing post-emancipation world.
The various elements and products associated with citrus lime production on Montserrat (chart created by Ellens 2025).
My approach is multi-sited and multi-scalar, moving between the micro-scale of individual sites and artifacts and the macro-scale of regional and global systems, while attending to the connections and flows of people, objects, and ideas between them. The Post-Emancipation ISLND Project draws on this same framework, combining historical documentation, survey data, oral history, and archaeological evidence to engage with the multiplicity of Montserratian experiences during this transformative era.
I'm excited about this project's potential to shed further light on Montserrat's post-emancipation history, and I look forward to sharing updates as the work progresses.
My research has been supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. It benefited from additional funding (direct and indirect) from: NEH Collaborative Research Grant, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Science Foundation, the Wayne State University Graduate School, and the Department of Anthropology. My work would never have been possible without the support of the Montserrat National Trust. I am incredibly grateful to the MNT's Executive Director, Sarita Francis, OBE, and the rest of the MNT staff for their assistance and support over the years.
I'm excited about this project's potential to shed further light on Montserrat's post-emancipation history, and I look forward to sharing updates as the work progresses.
My research has been supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. It benefited from additional funding (direct and indirect) from: NEH Collaborative Research Grant, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Science Foundation, the Wayne State University Graduate School, and the Department of Anthropology. My work would never have been possible without the support of the Montserrat National Trust. I am incredibly grateful to the MNT's Executive Director, Sarita Francis, OBE, and the rest of the MNT staff for their assistance and support over the years.
Ellens, Samantha M.
"Uncovering Landscapes of Labor: The Contributions of the Citrus Lime Industry to Socioeconomic Transformations in the Post-Emancipation Lesser Antilles." Dissertation. Wayne State University, 2025. United States.
"Uncovering Landscapes of Labor: The Contributions of the Citrus Lime Industry to Socioeconomic Transformations in the Post-Emancipation Lesser Antilles." Dissertation. Wayne State University, 2025. United States.
