[SOUNDS OF SIFTING SOIL, DIGGING
 IN SOIL]
One of the most
exciting finds, to me,
in the Archaeology
of Harvard Yard class
has been the recovery of
a single piece of type
that was probably
used by James Printer
during the days of the
Harvard Indian College.
By 1656, James Printer,
a young Nipmuc man,
came into this building
that was standing here
in the Harvard Indian College.
He was actually apprenticed
to be a printer,
and he helped initiate in
American publishing history.
This was the first printing
press in the colonies.
The press was actually pretty
phenomenal for its day,
because it actually
allowed the colonies
to produce their own literature
and their own governing
documents.
And the very first
Bible published here
in what became the United
States was done here
at the Harvard Indian College.
And importantly, that Bible
was not published in English,
but in the regional
Algonquin languages,
and one of those
languages is Wampanoag.
And that is a language that
is being revitalized today,
using many of the materials
that were printed here
at the Harvard Indian College,
including that first Bible.
One of the most important things
to know about James Printer
is that this is a
man who survived.
He survived the ravages
of King Philip's War.
He negotiated after the war to
protect some of his relations
from be shipped off into
the West Indies and slavery.
And he also back
here to the college.
In fact, his work
was much in demand,
because, as John Elliot
said, he was only one
in the colonies who knew
how to set the type right.
So he not only continued
to work at the press,
but he also became a
leader in his own hometown
of Hassanamesit, the Nipmuc
town to the west of us.
And he was able to work
with other Nipmuc leaders
to ensure that lands
at Hassanamesit
would be protected,
which during that time
was not an easy
goal to accomplish.
And he also went on to have many
children who survived and have
their own families,
and there are
descendants of James Printer
amongst the Nipmuc community
today.
