Glenn A Black (1900-1964)

[1]Death Certificate for Glenn A. Black, September 2, 1964, Indiana Death Certificates, 1899-2011, accessed Ancestry.com; 1900 US Federal Census, Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana, roll 388, page 8B, district 0045, line 77 (John E. Black), accessed Ancestry.com; Indianapolis City Directory (1901), U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995, 205 (John A. Black), accessed Ancestry.com; 1910 US Federal Census, Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana, roll T624_368, page 5B, district 0140, line 73 (Glenn A. Black), accessed Ancestry.com; Draft Registration Card for Glenn Albert Black, U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, accessed Ancestry.com; 1920 US Federal Census, Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana, roll T625_454, page 6B, district 169, line 83 (Glenn A. Black), accessed Ancestry.com; 1930 US Federal Census, Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana, roll 612, page 4B, district 0134, line 64 (Glenn A. Black), accessed Ancestry.com; James H. Madison, Eli Lilly: A Life, 1885-1977 (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1989), 126.

Glenn Albert Black was born to John A. Black and Emma Kennedy on August 18, 1900. Multiple sources have listed his birth date as either August 5, August 15, or August 18, 1900, but his death certificate and World War I draft registration card lists August 18, 1900 as his date of birth. Along with this, Black’s death certificate only states that he was born in Indiana. Most secondary sources written about Black say that he was born in Indianapolis. Because the State of Indiana did not require statewide registration of births until 1907, Black does not have a birth certificate (Select counties kept a record of births before 1907; Marion was not one of them). He is listed as living in Indianapolis in the 1910, 1920, and 1930 censuses. His parents lived in Indianapolis according to the 1900 census (enumerated June of that year, two months before his birth). The 1901 Indianapolis city directory states that his parents were living in the same house they had listed in the 1900 census. Therefore, it can be concluded that he was born in Indianapolis.

[2] “Black, Glenn Albert,” in Indiana’s 200: The People Who Shaped the Hoosier State, G. William Monaghan and Timothy Baumann (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 2015), 20.

According to Monaghan and Baumann, Black contended that “constructing site ethnographies, which he believed must be the overarching purpose of archaeological research, could only be accomplished through extensive, long-term excavations.” Thus, while he excavated at other sites throughout his life, his main project was to study Angel Mounds extensively. He spent twenty-five years studying at Angel Mounds from 1939 to 1964. See notes 5 and 7 for more information on Black’s innovative work at Angel Mounds.

[3] “Rediscovering Prehistoric Indiana,” The Indianapolis Star, August 17, 1947, 81-82, accessed Newspapers.com; Christopher S. Peebles and Staffan D. Peterson, “Angel Mounds State Historic Site,” in ed. Linda S. Cordell, Francis P. McManamon, George R. Milner, and Kent G. Lightfoot Archaeology in America: An Encyclopedia (Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc., 2009), 133-136; “Angel Mounds,” Angel Mounds State Historic Site, Indiana State Museum; “I.U. to Develop Angel Mounds Site,” Chicago Tribune, January 2, 1966, 135, accessed Newspapers.com; “Memorial Sites Picked in State,” Greencastle Daily Banner (Indiana), January 30, 1964, 1, accessed Hoosier State Chronicles; Glenn A. Black “Angel Site, Vanderburgh County, Indiana: An Introduction,” in Prehistory Research Series II, no. 5 (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, December 1944).

Through his excavations, Black concluded that Angel Mounds existed long before the discovery of America, and was most likely still a “lively community during and after the period of DeSoto.” The “period of DeSoto” refers to Spanish explorer and conquistador Hernando de Soto. He found no have evidence to suggest that the site was visited by white men and women. He believed that Angel Mounds was the site of the “farthest north existence of an agricultural Indian folk who were a part of the long settled tribes of southern and southeastern United States.” Recorded history of the area only goes back to 1875, and a report on field work in the area (published in 1894) observed that the mounds seemed “out of place in the region” (as noted by Cyrus Thomas, director of the fieldwork).  According to Glenn Black, Thomas “was the first observer who had seen enough of such works elsewhere to realized that the Angel Site displayed outward physical features common to villages and mound groups in the South and Southeast,” thus Black’s estimation about it being the farthest north existence.

An encyclopedia entry on Angel Mounds estimates that the community flourished between AD 1050 and 1450 and that the settlement was geographically and culturally central to the Angel phase. The Angel phase refers to the portion of time from AD 1050-1350 characterized by the use of ceramic, of which there is plenty at Angel Mounds. In 1946, the site was transferred to the State of Indiana. After Black’s death, the Indiana Historical Society and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources transferred the site to Indiana University in an attempt at “making Indiana university the archaeological center of the state” and to use the site as a research and teaching facility. Today, the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites Corporation manages the site. In 1964, Angel Mounds was registered as a national historic landmark. Learn more about the historic Angel Mounds.

[4] Glenn A. Black “Angel Site, Vanderburgh County, Indiana: An Introduction,” in Prehistory Research Series II, no. 5 (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, December 1944).

In 1944, Black wrote a site report on his progress at Angel Mounds. Before he began excavation work with the Works Progress Administration (see note 10 for more information on the WPA), Black and the WPA workers cleared the site of modern obstructions and surveyed the area. The site consisted of twelve mounds (aptly named Mounds A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, and L). Once excavation began, the workers used the “block technique” (definition; example). Black created a policy of “discarding absolutely nothing at the scene of excavations” for two reasons: “we could not trust the [WPA] workmen to decide what should be kept and what should be discarded. In the second place, when the material is first recovered from the earth it is very dirty and its identity is often uncertain.” After removal, artifacts were taken to the laboratory and cleaned, then inspected by those trained to recognize anything “of archaeological or scientific value.” During the winter, work was primarily done in the lab due to the cold weather.

One of the more important mounds, Mound F, was excavated in the spring of 1940 and continued until May 1942. Black chose to excavate it early on because of its location on the site (it was the first to be excavated on the west end of the site, and the material collected could be compared to materials collected on the east end of the site), and also because of its size, form, and location in relation to the other mounds of the group. Black and his researcher believed that Mound F was the temple mound of the site, and thus crucial to the excavations.

See notes 3 and 7 for more information on Black’s work at Angel Mounds.

[5] Indiana Historical Bureau, “Agreement Between the Historical Bureau and Glenn A. Black,” Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology; Glenn A. Black, “Excavation of the Nowlin Mound: Dearborn County Site 7, 1934-1935,” in Indiana History Bulletin 13, no. 7 (July 1936), 201-342, accessed HathiTrust; “The Excavation,” The Nowlin Mound Digital Exhibit, Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology; James H. Madison, Eli Lilly: A Life, 1885-1977 (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1989), 135; David M. Oestreicher, “Unraveling the Walam Olum,” Natural History 105, no. 10 (Oct. 1996), 14-18; “Black, Glenn Albert,” in Indiana’s 200: The People Who Shaped the Hoosier State, G. William Monaghan and Timothy Baumann (Indianapolis, Ind.: Indiana Historical Society, 2015), 19-22; Glenn A. Black, Angel Site: An Archaeological, Historical, and Ethnological Study vol. 1 (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1967), 28.

Black was asked in 1934 by the Indiana Historical Society to excavate the Nowlin Mound in Dearborn County, Indiana. The mound was located on the farm of Guy Nowlin, who allowed Black to explore. Black gave the Indiana Historical Bureau rights to publish the excavation report, which was published in  the July 1936 issue of the Indiana History Bulletin. Black, as well as archaeologists James B. Griffin and Frederick R. Matson, Jr. wrote the report. It is composed of an explanation of the history of the mound, the excavation in 1934 and 1935, the artifacts found, pottery in the mound and fragments of pottery found. Hoosiers were very interested in the Nowlin Mound during excavation, with about fifty visiting per day, with the exception of August 26, 1934, when there were “four to five thousand.” Black’s excavation of the mound “aroused local interest in archaeology and Indiana prehistory.” It was here that his intensely methodical process of excavating is evident. In his report on the mound, he writes “If the results of any excavation are to provide an unimpeachable historical record of a prehistoric work, too much stress cannot be placed upon methodical technique and exactness of detail, no matter how trivial the feature may be.” He felt very strongly about following a methodical system while excavating, believing that it would lead to better results and record of the history. He also writes that “if the description of the methods used in staking and surveying the mound seems unnecessarily extensive, it should be remembered that a mound once dug is a mound destroyed; if the story it has to tell be lost on the initial attempt it is lost forever.”

In the 1930s, Black and Eli Lilly conducted a controversial investigation to test their theory about the Walam Olum. The Walam Olum is a historically disputed story of the creation of the Delaware tribe, began in 1836 by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque. Rafinesque announced that he had acquired some “tablets” that depicted the “ancient record of the peopling of North America that had been written by the early Lenape (Delaware) Indians and passed down in the tribe for generations. He had translated the tablets into English, and called it the “Walam Olum” for “painted record” in Lenape. In the years following his death, notable historians, linguists, and ethnologists believed that it “contained crucial evidence for prehistoric Amerindian migrations and the identity of the mysterious Midwestern Mound Builders.” Lilly and Black believed in this theory, and began analyzing the Walam Olum with a team of experts. Lilly and Black “had a hunch that the Walam Olum may possibly have in it the key that will open the riddle of the Mound Builders.” In short, they were “trying to connect the prehistoric people who had built the great mounds of the Ohio Valley with the historic Delaware tribe.” Their report was published in 1954, and its authors claimed “all confidence in the historical value of the Walam Olum.” More recently, historians believe that the Walam Olum was a hoax created by Rafinesque to prove his belief that the Indians came to North America from the Old World. The investigation and conclusion from this report was rejected and criticized by other professionals, causing them to cease investigations after their initial report. To learn more about Lilly and Black’s investigation into the Walam Olum, see Walam Olum, or Red Score: The Migration Legend of the Lenni Lenape or Delaware Indians: A New Translation, Interpreted by Linguistic, Historical, Archaeological, Ethnological, and Physical Anthropological Studies (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1954) on WorldCat.

In the summer of 1953, the Indiana University summer field school did not conduct research at Angel Mounds. Instead, the research was done at the Walter Ray Site at Yankeetown, Warrick County. In 1956, the field school did not meet, as Black took leave that year. To learn more about the field school, see note 11.

[6] Glenn A. Black and Richard B. Johnston, “A Test of Magnetometry as an Aid to Archaeology,” American Antiquity 28, no. 2 (October 1962), 199-205, accessed Jstor.org.

In 1958, Black became interested in locational devices to detect features of the mounds. He saw that the use of proton magnetometers was announced in Britain by the Oxford University Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art. The device successfully located features on Roman sites. Black began looking for one to use at Angel Mounds. In September 1960, the Indiana Historical Society purchased a Littlemore magnetometer instrument for use at Angel Mounds. Black’s article about this project asserted that the purpose was “to evaluate the application of the proton magnetometer to the problem of locating subsurface features on archaeological sites in this part of the world, and to extend the work begun by the Oxford group.” The magnetometer measures “magnetic intensity” using a magnetized needle and protons.

The Littlemore proton magnetometer purchased by the Indiana Historical Society is made up of two components: an electronic package and a sensing element connected by cable, measuring 13.5 inches wide, 5.5 inches deep, and 14 inches high and weighing 21 pounds. The stockade at Angel Mounds proved to be an ideal testing site because of its linear and continuous form.

See note 6 for how Black systematically excavated his sites.

[7] Lana Ruegamer, A History of the Indiana Historical Society, 1830-1980 (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1980), 284; James H. Madison, Eli Lilly: A Life, 1885-1977 (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1989), 136, 144, 146; Glenn A. Black, “Angel Site, Vanderburgh County, Indiana: An Introduction,” in Prehistory Research Series II, no. 5 (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, December 1944), 451-52.

Eli Lilly had been contemplating purchasing the site since 1931, but when the site was in danger of being incorporated by the City of Evansville in 1938, Lilly acted. A levee had been proposed near the mounds on the Angel property (Angel being the name of the landowner) to prevent a recurrence of a flood that occurred in 1937. The Indiana Historical Society could not raise enough funds from private contributors to purchase the site, so Lilly provided $68,000 or the $71,957 needed to purchase the site. By 1944, the Indiana Historical Society owned the entire Angel property, allowing for full excavations on the land.

Black’s relationship with Lilly began as a professional relationship. As they continued to work with each other, they grew closer and constantly supported each other’s work. Their relationship was later described as father-son because Black’s father had died when he was young, and Lilly’s two sons died in infancy. In a Father’s Day greeting to Lilly, Black wrote, “You have been my ‘father,’ friend and councilor.” Lilly responded to this with, “If I had a son I should wish him to have character and abilities equal to yours.” See note 14 for more information on Lilly’s dedication to Black’s work after his death.

See note 9 for how Black became associated with Eli Lilly.

[8] James H. Kellar, “Dr. Glenn A. Black,” Indiana History Bulletin 41, no. 9 (September 1964), 126-127, clipping in “Black, Glenn A.,” Indiana State Library; James H. Madison, Eli Lilly: A Life, 1885-1977 (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1989), 123-127; Draft Registration Card for Glenn Albert Black, U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, accessed Ancestry.com; Michele Ward, “Glenn Black Honorary Degree,” email to Jenna Auber, 15 Nov. 2017; Lana Ruegamer, A History of the Indiana Historical Society, 1830-1980 (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1980), 271-2.

Black graduated from Arsenal Technical High School, and did not receive further schooling. In 1926, Black worked as a cost estimator for an Indianapolis company that produced industrial scales and had previously worked as a repairman for a phonograph company. He entered the field of archaeology in the late 1920s by “actively collecting Indian artifacts and reading relevant books and articles.” Black was offered the job of tour guide and driver for an expedition in May 1931 led by Warren K. Moorehead and Eli Lilly. The acceptance of this job shaped Black’s career—Lilly and Moorehead were impressed with his work on the expedition, and supported him in pursuing archaeology. His only formal training in the field was at the Ohio State Museum from October 1931 to May 1932 with archaeologist Henry C. Shetrone in Columbus, Ohio. Lilly believed in Black’s abilities as an archaeologist and pushed him to receive at least some formal training so that he could improve his skills. Upon return from Columbus, Lilly ensured that Black had a job with the Indiana Historical Society archaeology department. In 1951, Black received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Wabash College. A book on the history of the Indiana Historical Society notes that “without Lilly’s support, there is no reason at all to believe that Glenn Black would ever have had an opportunity to become a professional archaeologist.” For more information on Black’s achievements in the field of archaeology, see note 7.

[9] “Works Progress Administration (WPA),” Encyclopedia Britannica; James H. Madison, Eli Lilly: A Life, 1885-1977 (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1989), 144; Lana Ruegamer, A History of the Indiana Historical Society, 1830-1980 (Indianaapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1980), 286; Timothy E. Baumann, G. William Monaghan, Christopher Peebles, Charla Marshall, Anthony Krus, and Joel Marshall, “The Legacy of Lilly, Black, and the WPA at Angel Mounds Near Evansville, Indiana,” The SAA Archaeological Record 11, no. 5 (Nov. 2011), 34-38, accessed onlinedigeditions; Glenn A. Black, Angel Site: An Archaeological, Historical, and Ethnological Study vol. 2 (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1967), vol. 2, 603; Glenn A. Black “Angel Site, Vanderburgh County, Indiana: An Introduction,” in Prehistory Research Series II, no. 5 (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, December 1944), 452-54.

The WPA is commonly known as the Works Progress Administration. However, from 1939-1943, the program was known as the Works Projects Administration. Because the second name is more familiar to most people, it was used in the text. Black and Lilly were Republicans, and thus very opposed to Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal. However, they decided that they were “crazy” for not wanting to use the labor, and used WPA funding to begin excavations at Angel Mounds. Between April 1939 and spring 1942, 277 workers excavated 120,000 square feet of ground at Angel Mounds, ultimately processing more than 2.3 million archaeological items. Black wanted to focus this work on ordinary village life, and believed that “a more realistic picture would result with the discovery and exploration of the city dump, burial grounds of the ordinary folk, and the dwellings sites of the dominate element of the population.” Most of the workers were in their thirties and forties, and were unskilled laborers from the Evansville area. Archaeological work was “ideal” for the WPA because it required a large number of men who had been struggling to support their families during the Great Depression , low overhead, and the work is beneficial to the laborers because they can learn history and the field of archaeology. The WPA workers mainly excavated the East Village and Mound F during their time at Angel Mounds. A comprehensive list of the WPA workers can be found in volume 2 of Glenn Black’s Angel Site: An Archaeological, Historical, and Ethnological Study.

[10] James H. Madison, Eli Lilly: A Life, 1885-1977 (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1989), 144-145; Glenn A. Black, Angel Site: An Archaeological, Historical, and Ethnological Study vol. 1 (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1967), 27; Glenn A. Black, letter to incoming students, 1952, Clarence Webb Papers, Angel Mounds State Historic Site (Evansville, Ind.); Glenn A. Black, “…that what is past may not be forever lost…,” in Indiana History Bulletin 38, no. 4 (April 1961), 69; National Academy of Sciences, Scientific & Technical Societies of the United States (Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences, 1968), 180-181, accessed Google Books.

From 1945 to 1962, students replaced WPA workers at the site. The years 1945 through 1947 served as “trial runs” of the summer field school program and the first official class began in June 1948. Black held his students attending the field program to very high standards. In a letter written to students, Black writes,

“You will be living for ten weeks in very close association with your fellow students and you will be expected to get along with one another in an agreeable manner. This is one of the very few field camps which accepts mixed groups. As such we are under constant surveyance by those in this neighborhood and at the University who do not believe in girls attending field schools. I do not subscribe to this thesis but that I may be proved right, and my critics wrong, I am dependent on you. I expect the girls be ladies and the boys gentlemen and all of you to be discreet and orderly at all times. It is requested that you do not wear shorts on the dig—they are neither practical or appropriate.”

Stemming from the field school, an organization was created in 1948 called The Trowel and Brush Society. This society limited membership to students enrolled in the Angel Mounds Field School, but created an honorary category for those who were unable to join formally, but had “contributed to American Archaeology in general and Indiana Archaeology in particular.” The purpose of this society was “to promote good techniques in archaeological research; to maintain contact between students who attend Indiana University’s Archaeological Field School.”

[11] “Editorials,” American Antiquity 7, no. 1 (July 1941), 1; “Hoosier Is Elected By Archaeology Society,” The Indianapolis News, May 19, 1947, 18, accessed Newspapers.com; Stanley A. Cain, ed., Proceedings of the Forty-eighth Annual Meeting, Indiana Academy of Science: Founded December 29, 1885 vol. 42 (Indianapolis: Wm. B. Burford Printing Co., Contractor for State Printing and Binding, 1933), accessed Indiana State Library; Paul Weatherwax, ed., Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science: Founded December 29, 1885 ed. 46 (Fort Wayne, Ind.: Fort Wayne Printing Co., Contractor for State Printing and Binding, 1937), accessed Indiana State Library; Paul Weatherwax, ed., Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science: Founded December 29, 1885 vol. 47 (Indianapolis: Wm. B. Burford Printing Co., Contractor for State Printing and Binding, 1938), accessed Indiana State Library; Paul Weatherwax, ed., Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science: Founded December 29, 1885 vol. 48 (Indianapolis: Wm. B. Burford Printing Co., Contractor for State Printing and Binding, 1938), accessed Indiana State Library; National Academy of Sciences, 1957-1958 Annual Report, August 21,1959, 196, accessed Indiana State Library; National Academy of Sciences, 1958-1959 Annual Report, March 22, 1960, 220, accessed Indiana State Library; National Academy of Sciences, 1959-1960 Annual Report, March 21, 1961, 227, accessed GoogleBooks.

Glenn Black served as president of the Society for American Archaeology from 1941 to 1942, having previously served as vice-president. In 1947, he was named treasurer for the Society. Black was also a member of the Indiana Academy of Science (founded 1885), beginning his membership in 1932 and serving as Archaeology Divisional Chairman from 1936 to 1938. The Indiana Academy of Science recognizes those professionals who have shown extraordinary loyalty to the Academy and to science, elevating those members to fellows. Glenn Black did not receive this distinction, and was only a member of the Academy. He also served on the National Research Council from 1957-60.

[12] James H. Madison, Eli Lilly: A Life, 1885-1977 (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1989), 141; “Dr. Voeglin Heads New I.U. Department of Anthropology,” The Indianapolis Star, March 9, 1947, 6, accessed Newspapers.com; Lana Ruegamer, A History of the Indiana Historical Society, 1830-1980 (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1980), 293; “Dr. Voeglin Heads New I.U. Department of Anthropology,” The Indianapolis Star, March 9, 1947, 6, accessed Newspapers.com; “New Anthropology Department at I.U.,” The Star Press (Muncie, Ind.), March 9, 1947, accessed Newspapers.com; Glenn A. Black, Angel Site: An Archaeological, Historical, and Ethnological Study vol. 1 (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1967), 27; “Indiana Pre-History Authority Dies,” Daily Herald Telephone (Bloomington, Ind.), September 4, 1964, 2, accessed microfilm at Indiana State Library.

Glenn Black joined the Indiana University faculty in 1944 and lectured on archaeology in the zoology department until the anthropology department was formed in 1947. The new anthropology department was headed by Dr. Carl Voeglin and was the first of anthropology department to be instituted at any Indiana college or university. Black continued to teach at I.U. until his retirement from teaching in 1960 to focus on finishing his report on Angel Mounds. At I.U. he taught North American Archaeology, Ohio Valley Archaeology, and Archaeological Methods and Techniques (which was only taught once because of the complexity of teaching it in a classroom). After his death, Dr. Georg K. Neumann of the anthropology department called Black “one of the foremost authorities on the pre-history of the state” and “an excellent teacher in the training of future archaeologists at the field school.”

[13] James H. Madison, Eli Lilly: A Life, 1885-1977 (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1989), 149; “About the Glenn Black Laboratory,” The Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology; Glenn A. Black, Angel Site: An Archaeological, Historical, and Ethnological Study vol. 1 (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1967), vii; James H. Kellar, “Dr. Glenn A. Black,” Indiana History Bulletin 41, no. 9 (September 1964), 126-127, clipping in “Black, Glenn A.,” Indiana State Library.

Upon Black’s death, Eli Lilly was inspired to use the Lilly Endowment to construct a building which would house his archaeological collection, and Black’s Angel site materials and books. It would have display cases, office, library, and work spaces for “archaeological teaching and research.” This building, the Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology, was dedicated on April 21, 1971, and is located on the Indiana University campus in Bloomington. Today, the Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology “teaches field schools, facilitates student and faculty research, and holds its vast collections in trust for current and future generations of scholars.”

For more information on the relationship between Eli Lilly and Glenn Black, see notes 8 and 9.

Glenn Black died September 2, 1964 at Deaconess Hospital in Evansville following a heart attack. When he died, he was almost done with his report on the Angel Site. His former student, James A. Kellar, and historian Gayle Thornbrough, finished it. The Indiana Historical Society published the report in 1967, titling it Angel Site: An Archaeological, Historical, and Ethnological Study. The sections that Black completed before his death include the “historical background, chronological account of its excavation, ethnological relationships, and the ecology of the area.” After his death, Kellar wrote the section that dealt with the material that had been recovered from the site. In a short biography written in the Indiana History Bulletin after his death, Black is described as “one of the important individuals responsible for raising the standards of prehistoric research.”