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Kids from the Boys & Girls Club join YSU students in dig
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
Pieces of bricks, scraps of ripped clothing and shards of a china set may not look like much, but they tell a story about how a neighborhood used to look and the people who lived there.
Youngsters from the Boys & Girls Club of Youngstown are learning some of that history, participating in an archaeological dig on the city’s South Side.
Akeim Smith, 11, and Thomas Smith, 10, chiseled away at dirt, unearthing a small scrap.
“Look what we found,” Thomas said. “What is it?”
Matt O’Mansky, associate professor and chairman of Youngstown State University’s sociology, anthropology and gerontology department, said it looked like a piece of plastic, meaning it’s a relatively recent artifact.
O’Mansky regularly conducts archaeological digs across the Mahoning Valley with students. It provides an opportunity for students to experience methods of field work.
In the past, YSU students have dug at the old county courthouse in Canfield and the Dr. Peter Allen House in Kinsman.
Though O’Mansky invites students to Guatemala where he explores Mayan sites, few students are able to go. His local digs provide them with that hands-on experience.
For the last four weeks, the YSU students have been digging in vacant lots across the street from the Boys & Girls Club. The club owns the property.
O’Mansky partnered with the club to allow the YSU students to get the experience, and provide the Boys & Girls Club students with a new experience.
The professor contacted the Mahoning Valley Historical Society where archivist Pam Spies provided him with plat maps of the area.
“The Pecchia Bakery was here,” O’Mansky says, showing a photograph of the corner.
Students got to meet a member of the Pecchia family, who told them about working at the business as a boy.
Wednesday morning a man driving by stopped to chat. He’s from the neighborhood and remembers the houses and the bakery.
“We found some pieces of china,” O’Mansky said.
Because china patterns are dated, the students will be able to learn the time period it was made.
Randi Russell, unit director for the Boys & Girls Club of Youngstown, said the dig is a good way to expose the students to a different career.
“This is a new experience for them,” she said.
The club offers the summer program Monday through Friday and activities range from cooking, to gardening to job shadowing. Participants are divided into age groups to tailor activities.
“They’re learning the history of our area,” Russell said, adding that many of the students live in the neighborhood.
Kamirra Heru, 11, dug at a piece of material sticking out of the ground. Because it includes a zipper, the students guessed that it may be a jacket or a sleeping bag.
Ameer Heru, 10, and Joel Byers, 11, enjoyed getting dirty, chipping away at the dirt to see what they could find.
What’s the best part?
“Digging,” Ameer said.