Unearthing History, Building Access: UofL Anthropology Graduate Student Brings Segregated Schoolhouse Story to Life

By Stephanie Godward, Communications and Marketing Director, College of Arts & Sciences 

When Saylor Fortner holds an object in her hands while examining artifacts from the Kentucky School for the Blind’s history, she’s also connecting with the people who once used them. 

“Each item becomes a lens into the lives and experiences of those who were part of this history. My hope is that they also allow today’s students to pause and reflect on that past,” she states. 

For her master’s degree thesis in Anthropology, Fortner is co-curating an accessible archaeological exhibit for the Kentucky School for the Blind (KSB) that sheds light on its historic segregated schoolhouse for African American students.  

Working alongside Anthropology faculty Ashley Smallwood and Thomas Jennings, as well as partners from the UofL School of Engineering’s Additive Manufacturing Institute of Science and Technology (AMIST) and the American Printing House for the Blind (APH), Fortner is helping to lead efforts to make the exhibit fully inclusive for blind and low-vision audiences. 

The project builds on a 2022 archaeological field school that uncovered the remains and artifacts of the long-demolished schoolhouse, which operated from 1886 to 1956.  

Now, Fortner and her collaborators are transforming those discoveries into an educational exhibit featuring 3D-printed artifact replicas, braille-printed labels, and tactile displays that allow KSB students to “feel” history in their hands. 

“My advisors were looking for a graduate student to help bring this exhibit to life, and the project aligned perfectly with my interests,” Fortner said. “As an archaeologist, I’m committed to uncovering historic narratives that often get overlooked—and doing so through community collaboration. This exhibit offered the ideal opportunity to help preserve and share a history that might otherwise have remained buried.” 

Beyond preserving artifacts, the exhibit confronts Louisville’s segregated past while celebrating the resilience of the students and teachers who lived and learned there. Designed to align with K-12 curriculum standards, the exhibit will be displayed on KSB’s campus and shared with the wider community through tours and events hosted by the KSB Charitable Foundation. 

Students involved in the 2022 field school were able to pinpoint the building’s former location and recover a range of artifacts. A highlight of the project was the direct involvement of School for the Blind students, who joined the excavation during their last week of classes—digging, screening soil, and helping uncover pieces of their own history. 

The discoveries sparked a desire within the school community to commemorate the site. To do that, they envisioned an exhibit in the library that would showcase the recovered artifacts and tell the story of the schoolhouse in a meaningful, accessible way. 

A powerful moment from this process was captured in a local news clip from the excavation, Fortner shared.  

“A Kentucky School for the Blind student, while digging, looks up at the camera and says, ‘I’m thinking about it now and realizing that if I had gone to school at that time, I would have been at the segregated schoolhouse.’ Moments like that show how meaningful these artifacts can be in prompting reflection and understanding,” Fortner said. 

Some of the objects—like milk bottle caps stamped with local information—also reveal just how embedded this story is within Jefferson County.  

“It’s fascinating to see how these small items illuminate a history that is both personal and deeply local,” Fortner said. 

The Anthropology department is incredibly tight-knit and supportive, bringing together faculty with diverse backgrounds who study different regions, time periods, and communities, which creates a rich learning environment, Fortner noted. Students are exposed to a wide range of research and have the chance to collaborate with professionals across the field. 

“We also have strong student-led organizations that foster connection between undergraduate and graduate students,” she said. “As someone who moved from undergrad into the graduate program, it’s been meaningful to be part of a community that values mentorship and helps guide emerging archaeologists in their academic and professional development.” 

Working on this project has also shown her the power of interdisciplinary collaboration.  

“I’ve gotten to partner with the Kentucky School for the Blind, their charitable foundation, and even UofL’s engineering department, which is helping design 3D-printed objects for the exhibit,” Fortner said. “These experiences have strengthened my ability to work across teams, build relationships, and think collaboratively—skills that will be invaluable as I move forward in my career.” 

Her biggest piece of advice for prospective graduate students is this: if you’re interested in the program and you find a faculty member whose work aligns with your interests and who you feel would be a strong mentor, absolutely go for it.  

“The Anthropology program is really well structured to support students with a range of goals,” she said. “One of the standout resources is our CACHE, which is the Center for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage, and gives students hands-on experience with curation, artifact analysis, and the behind-the-scenes processes that connect fieldwork to public interpretation. You see the full spectrum—from excavation, to cleaning and analyzing artifacts, to understanding how those items eventually become part of museum exhibits.” 

For students interested in museum studies or public-facing archaeology, it’s an ideal environment with plenty of opportunities to build skills and explore every step of the process. 

“My future plan is to continue into a PhD program and keep working with materials and artifacts that highlight human agency,” she said. “It’s easy to look at an artifact and think of it simply as an interesting object from the past, but I’m really focused on the individuals—their daily lives, their choices, and how they interacted with these things.” 

She emphasized that this project has been a true team effort.  

“None of this would have been possible without our incredible collaborators—the Kentucky School for the Blind, the American Printing House for the Blind, the engineering department, the charitable foundation, and of course the students who took part in the excavation,” she said. “It’s never just one person behind a project like this. It’s a community.”