OPEN HOUSE TO OFFER CLUES ABOUT 19TH CENTURY
CHARLOTTESVILLE	
	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., July 27 -- A free open house Saturday,
Aug. 5, at the University of VirginiaÕs Venable Lane excavation site
will allow people to learn what life was like in 19th-century
Charlottesville.
	To be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the ÒUncovering
Community: Archaeology at Venable LaneÓ open house will offer
visitors numerous ways to envision the neighborhood surrounding the
home of a free black, Catherine Foster, and her family.  Volunteers
and archaeologists will conduct tours of the site, and studentsÕ
projects will offer interpretations about the community.
	In addition, individuals portraying 19th-century characters
will provide first-person accounts of neighborhood life, and a
childrenÕs mini-dig will offer glimpses into CharlottesvilleÕs past.
	ÒWe want the open house to show what 19th-century issues
were affecting the Foster family and their neighborhood,Ó said Drake
Patten, project director at the excavation site.
	Free parking will be available near the site, located on
Jefferson Park Avenue, between Brandon Avenue and Oakhurst Circle.
	Local performers and strolling musicians will play during
the open house.  Food, drink and T-shirts will be available for
purchase.
	The second annual open house is designed to display
excavation site findings and research about the Foster family life,
said Patten, who noted that classes have been meeting there this
summer.
	For more information, call the site at (804) 982-2611.
	Additional information about the Foster homesite can be
obtained on the Internet:
http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/~ensp482/venable.lane/.
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July 26, 1995