Born: 1 December 1913, United States
Died: 16 June 2003
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Virginia Harrington
The following is republished from the National Park Service. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
Virginia Sutton
Archaeologist at Mesa Verde NP & Colonial NHP
1935 – 1938
• Born Virginia Hall Sutton in Washington, D.C. on December 1, 1913 .
• Earned a B.A. in history from Strathmore College in 1934.
• Hired as a temporary ranger-archaeologist at Mesa Verde National Park in 1935.
• Completed a M.A. in anthropology at the University of Chicago in 1936.
• Returned to Mesa Verde for the summer of 1936.
• Became a temporary ranger-historian at Jamestown (part of Colonial National Historical Park) in 1937, and the first woman with that title in the NPS.
• Received the second highest score on the junior park archaeologist civil service exam and became a permanent archaeologist at Jamestown in 1937.
• Was part of the team excavating at Jamestown and developed a program to interpret excavations at Jamestown.
• Resigned from her position when she married Jean C. Harrington, “the father of American historical archaeology” in 1938. Together they had two children.
• Continues to work with her husband at Jamestown until 1941 and excavated at several other NPS sites including Fort Necessity, Fort Fredrica, and Fort Raleigh.
• Together they helped establish the Eastern National Parks and Monuments Association.
• Received the Society of Historic Archaeology’s Award of Merit in 1999.
• Died June 16, 2003 in Richmond, VA.