Julissa Collazo López

Grant Type

Dissertation Fieldwork Grant

Institutional Affiliation

Syracuse U.

Grant number

Gr. 10498

Approve Date

April 6, 2023

Project Title

Collazo López, Julissa (Syracuse U.) "Gendering and Performance in Early Spanish Colonies: Order and (dis)Order at Puerto Real (1503-1578) and St. Augustine (1565-1763)"

JULISSA COLLAZO LOPEZ, then a graduate student at Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, was awarded funding in April 2023 to aid research on “Gendering and Performance in Early Spanish Colonies: Order and (dis)Order at Puerto Real (1503-1578) and St. Augustine (1565-1763),” supervised by Dr. Guido Pezzarossi. This dissertation project focuses on the process of creating “colonial subjects” through the imposition of gender in the Spanish town of Puerto Real (1503-1578), Haiti. In sites like Puerto Real, the Spanish regime attempted to transform local populations they considered non-Spanish or non-human into productive, properly looking, and behaving subjects. This project investigates how individuals at Puerto Real negotiated the space between conformity and divergence within the framework of Spanish gender expectations. Additionally, this project examines how much previous archaeological interpretations reinforced colonial gender impositions and assesses their potential contribution to reshaping gender narratives within an archaeological collection. Throughout fieldwork, data was gathered at the Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH) in Gainesville, where the Puerto Real collection is housed and accessible, and the Archivo General de Indias in Spain. At the FLMH, specific items, clothing, and personal adornment artifacts, specifically beads, jewelry, hawk’s bells, clothing, and sewing items (pins, aglets, hooks, etc.), were chosen for documentation. At the Archive, documents that addressed how the Crown regulated or made exceptions to gendered behavior and dress norms were considered. This dissertation project aids in understanding and reimagining narratives of cultural change associated with gender.