Nichole Zang, a senior Public History major, had her research paper on 18th century tobacco marks chosen for presentation at a national conference. Having researched the use of tobacco marks on 18th century Virginia tobacco hogsheads, Nichole tested their use as a way of tracking individual tobacco shipments in the 18th century world. Zang was the only student from SU’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences (HaSS) to have been selected for this honor by the National Council on Undergraduate Research.

Nichole became interested in this topic while interning at George Washington’s Mount Vernon. As Mount Vernon’s first “e-tern,” Nichole was tasked with transcribing a number of ledgers several centuries old that contained these mysterious symbols. Her blog entry at Mount Vernon’s archaeology blog “Mount Vernon Midden” was the beginning of a desire to learn more about tobacco marks.

Tobacco marks came about as a method to help ensure the quality of Virginia tobacco sold in the British market during the 18th century. Following a decline in the quality of Virginia tobacco in the late-17th century, it was required that Virginia growers mark their shipping barrels, called hogsheads, with a symbol unique to their plantation(s). At each step of the export process various items of information were recorded for each hogshead by either shippers or taxing authorities.

This has left an archival record rich with data regarding the tobacco trade between Virginia and Great Britain. By tracing each hogshead at various steps along its journey, it was theoretically possible to map portions of the centuries old trade. Nichole presented a pilot project which served as a proof of concept for just such an analysis.

Nichole is now a graduate student at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) in their Public History program. Nichole continues to pursue her interest in the 18th century tobacco trade. To read her blog entry about tobacco marks at George Washington’s Mount Vernon, feel free to follow this link: http://mountvernonmidden.org/wordpress/?p=687