TCNJ

38 The College of New Jersey Magazine Scissors were recovered alongside skeletal remains. It's certain it will never be known if they were intentionally placed there. "You're not going to see this in history books," she says. "You're not going to learn about everyday people. This gives us the chance to do that." Jeffers is among the many students taking Leader and Beatrice's classes who have been impacted by exposure to the Arch Street Project. Her interest surprised her; she confessed she had taken Beatrice's osteology class only to fill her science requirement. "But then I fell in love with it," she says. Seeing history and biology converge through the remains captured Jeffers' imagination; she's now tempted to pursue a career in biological archaeology instead of the library degree she'd long planned on. At 218 Arch Street, the brick condominiums whose bulldozers unearthed the First Baptist burial ground are now complete. That a cemetery ever existed at the site is invisible to passersby, but at TCNJ, the bones that were never meant to be disturbed are treated with care. Both Leader and Beatrice are grateful for the chance to uncover the history of Arch Street and also honor the lives lived. "We feel, and our students feel, this huge responsibility and sense of awe about working on these remains," Leader says. Though the bulk of the Arch Street work is being done at TCNJ, other institutions, including Rutgers, the Mütter Museum, Monmouth University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Winterthur Museum in Delaware are also contributing research. "We're not an island here," Leader says. "We feel that responsibility to make sure we include as many specialists as we can. Remember, we have four years till these go back in the ground." ■ A New Jersey-based freelance writer, Liz Leyden wrote "Border Trilogy," our Spring 2019 cover story. BEST. PROF. EVER. Who was your favorite professor? Who inspired you? Who put you on a path you never imagined? Tell us why your professor still lives in your heart by Nov. 1. • Send your thoughts (500 vivid words, max, and photos) to magazine@tcnj.edu • Leave voicemail at 609-771-3071 • Post to Instagram or Twitter with #TCNJfaveprof Selected submissions will be used for an upcoming issue of TCNJ Magazine.

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