Abstract:
This thesis will address the research question: “What can the archaeological and
historical record for the Searsville (CA) dam-keeper house site tell us about the
historically hidden lives of San Francisco Bay area working class families during the
Gilded Age?” My research offers insight into the often-invisible subaltern lives of the
working class, including analysis of the similarities and differences between generations
of dam-keepers and their families, their relationship with the corporation that employed
them (the Spring Valley Water Company), and the way in which their lives were
structured and transformed by trends of corporatization and the changing landscape of
resource - both natural and human - exploitation.
