TrowelBlazers: Accidentally Crowdsourcing an Archive of Women in Archaeology

Abstract

The TrowelBlazers project provides an example of how public participation can radically influence an archival heritage project. Conceived as a Tumblr site where a limited group could post content celebrating female archaeologists, geologists, and palaeontologists, we soon allowed ‘guest’ posts, which rapidly broadened the scope of our project. Through our participatory social media networks, TrowelBlazers became involved in STEM, feminist, and heritage actions. Contact with organisations promoting women’s involvement in science led to collaborations with broader feminist networks including The Women’s Room UK, Finding Ada Project, and ScienceGrrl alongside invited contributions to science education events (e.g. by the UK Environment and Science Research Council). TrowelBlazers hosted very successful Wikipedia edit-athons for Ada Lovelace Day at the Natural History Museum, London, and took part in Brown University’s event. More importantly, the accessibility and frequently crowdsourced nature of our content have allowed TrowelBlazers to directly engage with the nonacademic public to promote awareness of women’s contributions to heritage to a much broader public through activities like a feature in a magazine for pre-teen girls, a video project with a performance artist who plays an idealised girl’s role model, and even a toy maker.