An Afternoon at the Charles County HITS Expo - 2026

On Saturday March 21 Charles County Public Schools once again held its History, Industry, Technology, and Science (H.I.T.S.) Expo at St Charles High School in Waldorf, Maryland.  There were forty-five tables and six classroom activities/presentations sponsored by different organizations and school groups with CCASM having two of the tables.  A lot was going on with a variety of hands-on activities to engage the students (and the adults).

CCASM's tables included a display depicting the various archaeological skills related to history and science as well as a display with most aspects of an investigation from digging shovel test pits to writing the report.  But most of our table space was devoted to two activities.  One was called "Archaeologists Dig for Clues" and the other was called "What is it?"  We had fun working with the students and their parents as they completed the activities.

Happy to be at the HITS Expo

Completing What Is It? test

Learning about artifacts 

Thanks to Claudia, Denise, Linda, and Carol for being there to interact with the students and their parents.  Also thanks to Ned for helping to set up.

Click to see the winner of the special History Day award sponsored by the Charles County Archaeological Society of Maryland, Inc.

2026 Charles County History Day

On March 21, 2026 the combined Charles County Public Schools Annual History Day  and the Annual Science Fair (now referred to as H.I.T.S.) was once again held at the St Charles High School in Waldorf, Maryland.  CCASM sponsored one of the special History awards.  The award was $50 and a one-year membership in CCASM.  

 

 

This year's history topic was "Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History".  

The CCASM special History award went to Amina Ziden for the display “Maryland Women’s Suffrage Movement”.   Amina attends Matthew Henson Middle School. 

Congratulations, --- Amina!

We normally also sponsor a Science Fair award, but we did not have judges this year.  An organization has to provide the judges for their award.

Revolutionary Homefront in Charles County

Esther Doyle Read

At the March 19 CCASM Meeting Esther Read reviewed the events at the start of the Revolutionary War and how people in Charles County became aware of the events and how they were affected.   Of special interest was the 1774 Articles of Association that banned importation of goods from Britain, Ireland, and other territories in the British Empire because one Port Tobacco man did acquire goods that were banned under the Articles.  Esther relayed the story of James Graham, a Port Tobacco tailor, that resided on Lot 4 in Port Tobacco.  It turns out that the Swann Oyster House Site that CCASM have been helping to investigate is on Lot 4.  

Esther Doyle Read is the Archaeologist for Charles County Planning and Growth.  She is also an Adjunct Lecturer in the Department of Ancient Studies at UMBC

Once again this was a hybrid meeting with most of the people and the speaker attending in person.  Thanks to Jim for allowing us to use his Zoom account, and thanks to Peggy and Natalia for providing the hotspot.   

Attendance: 20  (5 via Zoom)

 

Archaeology in the Middle School Classroom

Sarah Mason
and Julia Berg

At the February 19 CCASM Meeting Julia Berg and Sarah Mason gave examples of how archaeological evidence could make the past tangible and meaningful for students in grades 6–8 (and possibly for us adults too).  Julia showed various lesson examples and hands-on activities that gave sixth graders an introduction to archaeology as well as providing additional information for their ancient civilizations classes.  Sarah showed how she used photos and artifacts from Montpelier to blend archaeology and history as eighth graders explored the causes and impacts of slavery in colonial times. 

Julia and Sarah talked about more ideas and projects than we can summarize in this blog posting.   We would recommend you hearing one of their talks in person.  

Julia Berg and Sarah Mason are middle school teachers and educational consultants (Digging Deeper Educational Consultants.) 

Once again this was a hybrid meeting with the speakers who live on the Eastern Shore presenting via Zoom but with most of the people attending in person.  Thanks to Jim for allowing us to use his Zoom account, and thanks to Peggy and Natalia for providing the hotspot.   

Almost ready for the meeting to start

Attendance: 12  (4 via Zoom)

 

Jan 2026 ASM Ink Article

The January 2026 Archeological Society of Maryland Newsletter (ASM Ink) contained the following article about CCASM, but it lacked captions on the photos.  (Yes, there are photos toward the end.)
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The ASM Chapter in Charles County
Carol Cowherd 

I was asked to write something about the Charles County Chapter of ASM, so here goes.

Since we are also the 501(c)3 non-profit organization Charles County Archeological Society of Maryland, Inc, I will refer to us as CCASM.  CCASM like the other ASM Chapters is made up of people with the desire to learn about local archaeology and/or history and to interact with others also interested in learning.  Our members include a mix of avocational archaeologists, one professional archeologist, and several newer members with no previous experience in archaeology.  Most of our members live in Charles County, but we also have members from other parts of Maryland as well as in other states – South Carolina, Pennsylvania, and New York.  Since CCASM was incorporated in 2010, our membership seems to stay in the low thirties with the number of active members currently being around ten. 

But what does CCASM do? 
Our main priorities are meetings, outreach activities, and volunteering for archeology projects in the field and in the lab. You can check out almost everything we have been doing for the past fifteen years by going to the CCASM blog ccarchsoc.blogspot.com/ . 

Here is a brief overview.
CCASM meets monthly September through April on the third Thursday of the month in LaPlata and has a potluck meeting in May. We have been lucky that many archeologists in Southern Maryland as well as others have agreed to talk at our meetings. One of our members lets us use his Zoom account so the speaker does not always have to travel to LaPlata. This also allows members who cannot attend in person to hear the talk. I should mention, we are still learning to conduct Zoom meetings. 

For outreach CCASM attends at least four events during the year. We have four displays and a number of hands-on activities so we can tailor the display and the activities to use at a given event. Three of the displays are felt covered, and we can modify or change what’s on the display easily. Also the number of activities keeps growing. Here is a photo from the Charles County Public Schools History, Industry, Technology, and Science (HITS) Expo that occurs in March of each year.

CCASM at 2025 Charles County Public Schools HITS Expo

And, of course, many of our members like to volunteer in the lab and in the field. CCASM members as a group (and sometimes individually) have volunteered with a number of archaeologists for various grants. CCASM members mainly volunteer with Esther Doyle Read, the County Archaeologist for Charles County Planning and Growth. Esther holds a Monday Public Archaeology Lab in Historic Port Tobacco in two buildings owned by the Society for Restoration of Port Tobacco and leased by Charles County Tourism. Most Mondays volunteers process artifacts retrieved from Charles County sites. Some Mondays and weekends volunteers are in the field on various Charles County sites investigating the site or doing rescue archaeology or documenting graveyards. Actually, being able to volunteer locally has contributed to CCASM membership. Most people volunteering for Monday Lab tend to join CCASM.

Washing at Burch House

Cataloging at PT Courthouse

In the Field

In 2024 the Charles County Historic Preservation Commission presented CCASM with a Preservation Service Award in recognition of outstanding achievement in and support for furthering the aims of historic preservation in Charles County.
There are a few other things I could add, but that is all for now. If you want to contact us, the CCASM email is ccasm2010@gmail.com.