Lu Ann De Cunzo

Lu Ann De Cunzo

Professor
 302-831-1854

Office location

137 Munroe Hall, Newark, DE 19716

Education

  • Ph.D. – University of Pennsylvania
  • M.A. – University of Pennsylvania
  • B.A. – College of William and Mary

Biography

Lu Ann De Cunzo,ÌýPh.D.,Ìýis a professor with the Department of Anthropology at the 91Ô­´´. She served as executive director of Historical Fallsington, Inc., a museum and historic preservation organization in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and director of Archaeological Services for Clio Group, a Philadelphia-based historical architecture and culture resource management firm, prior to joining the faculty at the 91Ô­´´ in 1989.​

Research and Teaching Interests

​De Cunzo is a historical anthropologist specializing in the 17th to 19th century cultural histories of the Middle Atlantic region and 20th to 21st century heritage preservation and interpretation of these histories. She has directed public archaeological projects in Delaware in collaboration with the Delaware Historical Society, New Castle Historical Society, New Castle Presbyterian Church, Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, Mt. Cuba Center, Delaware Nature Society, and the Old Swedes Foundation. At the 91Ô­´´, De Cunzo is engaged in the collaborative, interdisciplinary work of the Center for Material Culture Studies, the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture Studies, and the Preservation Studies graduate programs.

De Cunzo's current research explores 17th-century colonialism in the borderlands of the lower Delaware Valley and the African American experience in northern Delaware. Book projects includeÌýNew Stories from Old ThingsÌý(co-editor, author) at Delaware Historical Society's Read House and Gardens in New Castle andÌýEncountering 'Others' and the Material World of the Early Colonial Lower Delaware ValleyÌý(editor, author). As president of the Society for Historical Archaeology, De Cunzo has worked to globalize the practice of historical archaeology in the United States.

Select publications

​2022.Ìý. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ÌýCo-edited with Catherine Dann Roeber.

2005.Ìý. Gainesville: University of Florida Press. Co-edited with John H. Jameson, Jr.

2004.Ìý.ÌýKnoxville: University of Tennessee Press.

1997.Ìý. Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Delaware. Knoxville: University of Tennessee. Co-edited with Bernard L. Herman.
Ìý
1995. “."ÌýHistorical ArchaeologyÌý29(3): i-v, vii-viii, 1-168

Resources and Links

Media mentions
  • Untold stories of the First State

    March 20, 2024 | Written by Megan M.F. Everhart
    91Ô­´´ students uncover Delaware history through Museum Studies and Public Engagement’s community conservation project.