The Archaeology Student Society has already hosted a King Tut Drag Ball, but this year they’re fast-forwarding to the 1920s, a time of debauchery on Market Street during and after the Prohibition Era. Acts at this year’s event include Carnivale Debauche, Illini Pole Fitness, and Veronica Bleuas & Aloha Tolentino. Amanda Butler, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Archeology at the University of Illinois, helped put together the unique fundraiser happening this weekend. She and Zev Cossin, the Archaeology Student Society’s current president, spoke with me about the group’s Mardi Gras themed party on Saturday, and about the group itself.
Smile Politely: Why should we go to this particular Mardi Gras party? What makes it special?
Amanda Butler: To prepare for this event, we really enjoyed doing the archival research on our favorite pub, Mike N Molly’s. It was actually our mutual friend, the great Matt Fear, who gave us the idea. Matt Fear was a local actor, improvisor, director and DJ who recently moved to Boston. We had heard the rumors about Mike N Molly’s once being a speakeasy and thought, “What a great idea to incorporate the actual history of our favorite space into a fun evening for everyone!” The history and stories we dug up were really great. Essentially, North Market was always a place for a good time.
Zev Cossin: The event features several incredible local performers that help make this a can’t-miss night. “Mardi Gras at the Speakeasy” is a great way to heat up the winter 1920s style, learn more about a side of Champaign we may not have known, and support the work of a group of dedicated Archaeologists at the same time.
SP: Why the Mardi Gras and speakeasy themes?
Cossin: Mardi Gras at the Speakeasy is an event inspired by the little known nefarious past of the Market Street area of Champaign in the early decades of the 1900s. During prohibition and thereafter, the space currently occupied by Mike N Mollys was a cigar shop, speakeasy and gambling house—typical of the area in general at that time. The event honors this past with a Mardi Gras style celebration. [It’s] all to help raise funds for the public outreach programming that the Archaeology Student Society develops for the campus and local area public in the spring each year.
SP: What will people see when they walk into Mike N Molly’s?
Cossin: Our members have been working hard to plan and prepare an event that really evokes the spirit of Mardi Gras and the debauchery of historic Market Street in all aspects. Immediately, people will see a variety of decorations on both floors reminiscent of the Big Easy at a speakeasy: mixtures of the bright colors of Mardi Gras with the subtle elegance of the 1920s. On the walls they will see historic photos of Market Street and the scandalous headlines of the building’s past. If they so choose, people will also be able to participate themselves by dressing in costume of the period.
SP: What will people hear, taste and do at this party?
Cossin: We’ll start the evening with a variety of early jazz and blues music, and complement it with specialty cocktails and drinks that the crew at Mike N Molly’s will prepare. The night is going to be packed with drag performances by Veronica Bleaus, Aloha Tolentino, Reese Carrington and J. Estelado Knight, in addition to the talented members of Illini Pole Fitness and local headliner Carnivale Debauche. Throughout the night we’ll intersperse games, raffle off items graciously donated by local businesses, and hold a contest for the best costume. DJ John Hoeffleur will keep us going into the early morning with a mix of classic and contemporary hits.
SP: That sounds fantastic; I’m ready to hand over my $10!
Butler: We have always wanted to engage the public in the various ways that archaeology and history can be fun.
SP: How are the funds being used?
Cossin: This event raises funds…[to] support our public outreach efforts that connect us with the broader campus and local communities. Each spring, we put together an event on campus known as Archaeology Day, where we create interactive booths, workshops and performances that show off the rich diversity of archaeological research. These have been really valuable opportunities for us to discuss with the public all that archaeology does. Importantly, we have taken pride in being able to do this through alternative forms of learning beyond traditional academia. The funds that we raise also help…by providing the means for our members to travel to conferences, present their research in professional settings, and develop key skills for career advancement.
SP: Do you bring archeology to kids and young adults who can’t participate in pub events? How can they get involved?
Cossin: Archaeology Day always has a general theme that gives coherence to the activities that we put together. Last year, for example, our theme was “Engaging the Senses,” which was meant to explore the complex ways in which humans experience the world. While not the largest demographic, younger kids enjoyed several of our booths. They learned the process of flint knapping, or stone tool making, and had the chance to give it a try themselves, with close supervision! Many were excited to learn about animal bones and how archaeologists undertake various faunal analyses. Kids, young adults and people of all ages ventured through a paleolithic cave where they engaged with the various sights and sounds. And young adults and undergraduate students took part in an oral history and storytelling event that merged other ways of narration, experiences of marginalized communities in the past and present, and storytelling as a mode of cultural preservation, awareness and pride.
SP: Sound really cool! I’ll have to come to the next one.
Cossin: As we prepare for our next Archaeology Day this coming April, we would love to be in touch with local schools and children’s groups in the Champaign-Urbana area. Any way we can extend our public outreach effort would be a welcome and exciting boost.
SP: What do you like about archeology and your group in particular?
Cossin: Archaeology is a field of study that can, and does, thrive on considering multiple perspectives. Working intimately with material culture from the past is a really unique venture and requires constant questioning and reflection on our interpretations of the past and on the present world in which we live. In other words, we can rethink the present by more critically understanding our past. While carrying out excavations in the field, we come into contact with various stakeholders and people with unique questions, thoughts, and alternative lines of questioning. It is these interactions, both with diverse stakeholders and diverse lines of thought, that make archaeology such an exciting discipline to work through. I think our group captures this spirit quite well. We work in different areas of the world, come from various disciplinary backgrounds, and bring unique perspectives to the work we do. This has been a really valuable aspect of the group in enriching our own work through the ideas of others. Beyond our work, we keep each other sane with our craziness and have created a base of support to which we can always turn.
SP: What are you looking forward to the most for this event and the Achaeology Student Society?
Butler: Putting together events like this is really fun for me personally. We get to raise money in a way that allows us to geek out and everyone has a good time. As this is our 2nd time putting together a large fundraiser event like this one, we were better prepared, from the beginning.
Cossin: In putting together events like this, it’s always exciting to see how all the parts ultimately end up coming together. We envision all of the different parts and work hard to make it go as planned, but it’s never quite what you expect. With so many talented performers and unpredictable audiences, the end product transcends what we possibly could have planned and this becomes the truly fun part. As a group we also look forward to seeing how the Archaeology Student Society develops. Over the past few years, membership has grown and we have experimented with different events, from fundraisers to outreach programs to professional development activities. All have been a result of the creativity and efforts of various members, and so we look forward to seeing what new ideas come up and the direction the group takes.
Mardi Gras at the Speakeasy is this Saturday at Mike N Molly’s. One of my favorite themes in one of my favorite haunts! Doors open at 8 p.m. and cover is $10.