59
Donna J. Seifert
Joseph Balicki
Mary Ann Hall’s House
ABSTRACT
Archaeological data recovery investigations were conducted
at the site of the new National Museum of the American
Indian on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Investi-
gations included excavations on two lots, one that included
Mary Ann Hall’s mid-19th-century brothel and the adjacent
lot that included deposits associated with the brothel’s
occupation. The archaeological record complemented the
historical record, confirming that the brothel was a high-
class establishment. The brothel’s 1860s deposits yielded
evidence of expensive ceramics, champagne, and a wide
variety of foods. Comparison of the artifact assemblage
from Hall’s brothel with mid-19th-century family households
in Washington, DC, supports the interpretation that the brothel
purchased expensive consumer goods. Comparison of Hall’s
brothel with other brothel assemblages in Washington, DC,
revealed no simple brothel artifact signature but illustrated
economic-status differences among the brothels.
Introduction
The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum
of the American Indian opened in 2004 on the
National Mall in Washington, DC. The strik-
ing design of the museum is complemented by
a landscape so different from its surroundings
that the museum design team refers to it as
the building’s habitat. This landscape evokes
the site’s prehistoric setting, marshlands along a
creek that flowed into the nearby Potomac River.
Visitors to the new museum will surely note the
contrast between this building and its setting and
the neighboring museums and government office
buildings. They are unlikely to even imagine
the setting in the mid-19th century, when this
land was occupied by industrial, commercial,
and residential buildings, including one of the
largest brothels in the capital city.
Data recovery investigations at the National
Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) Mall
museum site were conducted by John Milner
Associates (Seifert et al. 1998) to assist the
Smithsonian Institution in complying with
Historical Archaeology, 2005, 39(1):59–73.
Permission to reprint required.
Accepted for publication 11 November 2003.
Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation
Act of 1966, as amended. One area, Lot 11,
contained eligible resources that were thought to
be associated with alley dwellings at the back
of the lot (Figure 1). Below these deposits
were older deposits that predated development
and occupation of the lot. The only nearby
occupation was Mary Ann Hall’s brothel on the
adjacent lot. The lot occupied by the brothel
was tested, but only architectural remains dating
to the occupation of the brothel were found.
Several units were excavated near the back
of Lot 11, and 10 of these included deposits
from the 1860s that have been associated with
the Hall brothel. Deposits included a yard
surface and a midden dated to the 1860s, but
no pit or shaft features (Seifert et al. 1998:
8,93,115). Stratigraphic superposition, datable
artifacts, mean ceramic dates, and terminus post
quem dates were used to date the deposits. A
fill layer associated with a ca. 1871 municipal
construction project overlays the brothel depos-
its. Upper deposits contain material related to
ca. 1870s working-class households. This paper
focuses on the ca. 1860 deposits that are associ-
ated with the brothel.
Several analytical techniques were used to
understand the material culture from Hall’s
brothel and to compare it with collections
from other brothels and from working-class
and middle-class households in Washington, DC.
Collections from 19th-century working-class and
middle-class households were selected as well
as collections from other 19th-century brothels.
The comparative collections are from four other
archaeological investigations in Washington,
DC. Collections from these sites were com-
pared using artifact pattern analysis. Groups
and classes of artifacts were then examined to
study more closely the types of consumer goods
purchased by the brothel inmates (resident pros-
titutes) and by members of other households.
Household Types
The archaeological collections selected for
comparison represent Washington, DC, house-
60
Figure 1. The project area, museum excavation line, excavations, and historic Reservation C (based on Sanborn 1888,
Baist 1929, and Greenhorne & O’Mara 1992).
holds occupied between 1844 and 1914 (Figure
2, Table 1). The collections also represent four
household types: middle-class owner, middle-
class tenant, working-class tenant, and brothel.
In some cases, the deposits were associated with
specific household residents documented in the
census or city directory. The associations are
most likely to be reliable for households occu-
pied by middle-class owners. For households
occupied by working-class tenants or prosti-
tutes, the research team considered the data on
residents less reliable. These types of residents
are more likely to move frequently, and pros-
titutes may have used more than one name, as
prostitute Ellen Starr did (Seifert 1994:150).
In some cases, the occupants associated with
an archaeological deposit could not be identi-
fied. In each case, the general character of the
neighborhood is known from historical docu-
HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 39(1)
ments. It is reasonable to assess the available
documentary evidence, speculate on household
type, and compare the archaeological collection
with other collections of known household type
to evaluate the speculation (Seifert et al. 1998:
163–168).
Brothels were households occupied by two or
more prostitutes who are tenants. These house-
holds generally included an older woman who
is listed as boardinghouse keeper; the household
may also have included servants. Middle-class
households were those occupied by skilled
workers and merchants. Most of the middle-
class households were composed of a family
that owned its home. Working-class households
included skilled and unskilled laborers who
rented their dwellings. These households often
included families and unrelated boarders. Data
DONNA J. SEIFERT AND JOSEPH BALICKI—Mary Ann Hall’s House
Figure 2. Locations of the project area (National Museum of the American Indian, Reservation C) and selected sites used
in the analysis (U.S. Geological Survey 1983).
on occupation, which are available in the techni-
cal reports used in the comparative analysis, were
drawn from the census and city directories.
The earliest of the comparative collections
is from Area D1, Square 373 (Garrow 1982).
This collection, from a trash midden deposited
between 1844 and 1857, was associated with
a single household, probably of the middle
class. Two collections associated with middle-
class households and dated to the 1850s were
selected: Phase 15-3b from Square 530 and
Locus 9 from Square 455 (Cheek et al. 1996;
Glumac et al. 1997). All three of these collec-
tions are probably earlier than the deposits in Lot
11 from Hall’s brothel. Comparison with these
earlier collections helps to place the brothel col-
lection within the context of the material culture
of 19th-century Washington, DC. The collection
from Phase 6a, Square 258, was excavated from
the neighborhood historically known as Hooker’s
Division (Cheek et al. 1991). This collection,
from a deposit dating from the 1860s and 1870s,
61
was not assigned to a household type; however,
the neighborhood was primarily occupied by
working-class tenants during this period. The
collections from Lots 15 and 19 on Square 530,
which date to the 1860s, were associated with
middle-class resident owners (Cheek et al. 1996).
The collection from Locus 4, Square 455, associ-
ated with an owner-occupant who was a druggist,
dates from the 1850s to the mid-1870s (Glumac
et al. 1997). Two collections from working-class
tenant households on Square 455, Locus 3 and
Locus 6, have been combined for this analysis.
Together, these collections date from the 1850s to
the 1880s. Two collections from working-class
tenant households from Square 257–258 have
been combined; these collections date from 1870
to 1890 (Cheek et al. 1991).
Artifact Pattern Analysis
Artifact pattern analysis, based on Stanley
South’s method (1997), has been used success-
 62
TABLE 1
COMPARATIVE COLLECTIONS FROM WASHINGTON, DC, ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS

Project Name and Report Citation Location Lot and Street Address Units of Analysis Household Type Date

National Museum of the American Reservation C Lot 11,347 Maryland Ave, SW Phase VII, Phase IX brothel on Lot 12 1860–1870
Indian Mall Museum Site 51SW14 (Reservation 6)
Seifert et al. 1997 Lot 11, 345–347 Maryland Ave, SW; Phase III, Phase IV working-class tenant 1871–1886
358, 356, 354 Amory Place

Federal Triangle Squares Lot 31, 317 131⁄2 Street Phase 6a unassigned [working-class tenant] 1860–1870
(Hooker's Division) 257, 258
51NW82 Lot 12, 1369 Ohio Ave, NW Phase 1 working-class tenant 1870–1890
Cheek et al. 1991 Lot E, 1359 Ohio Ave, NW Phase 3a

Lot B, 1353 Ohio Ave, NW Phase 4a brothel 1870–1890

Lot 1, 312 131⁄2 Street, NW Phase 5a

Lot E, 1359 Ohio Ave, NW Phase 3b brothel 1890–1914

Lot B, 1353 Ohio Ave, NW Phase 4b
Lot 27, 1309 C Street, NW Phase 7

Washington Metropolitan Field Square 530 Lot 15, 622 3rd Street, NW Phase 15-3b middle-class owner 1850–1860
Office, FBI
51NW106 Lot 15, 622 3rd Street, NW Phase 15-3c middle-class owner 1860–1870
Cheek et al. 1996 Lot 19, 608 3rd Street, NW Phase 19-3

DC Civic Center Square 373 919 I Street, NW Area D1 unassigned [middle-class tenant] 1844–1857
51NW141
Garrow 1982

DC Arena Square 455 Lot 803 [2], 607 F Street, NW Locus 9 middle-class renter 1850–1870
51NW115
Glumac et al. 1997 Lot 18, 612–616 G Street, NW Locus 4 middle-class owner 1850–1875
Lots 31, 31 [19, 20, 21] Locus 3 working-class tenant 1850–1870
618–620 6th Street, NW
Lot 825 [14], 638 F Street, NW Locus 6 working-class tenant 1850–1880
HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 39(1)
DONNA J. SEIFERT AND JOSEPH BALICKI—Mary Ann Hall’s House
fully to compare assemblages from 19th-century
households in Washington, DC. (Garrow 1982;
Cheek et al. 1991, 1996). This analysis is
most useful when contemporaneous households
of various types are compared with each other.
Comparisons of one household type at various
points in time are interesting but more difficult
to interpret. This paper focuses on compari-
sons of brothels. Comparisons of brothels with
contemporaneous working-class and middle-class
households were used to understand how the
artifact assemblages of brothels differed from
that of kin-based households.
Because pattern analysis is limited to gross
comparison, other methods were used to under-
stand the types and values of household goods
and to assess the economic status of the broth-
els. The functional groups and classes within
the groups used in the pattern analysis were
further examined to look at purchasing pat-
terns. Analyses of the ceramic assemblages
included vessel analysis, calculation of indices
(following Miller 1980, 1991), and proportions
of wares in the assemblage of each household
type. Analysis of bottle glass addressed the
types and proportions of beverages and phar-
maceuticals in each assemblage. Artifacts in the
activities and personal groups were examined in
detail. Previous research has shown that these
small groups may provide particularly useful
information on the material culture of brothel
inmates (Seifert 1991, 1994). Minimum num-
bers of vessels were calculated for ceramics,
bottles, and glass tableware.
The kitchen and architecture artifacts together
consistently account for more than 90% of each
of the Washington, DC, collections compared
(Table 2). Kitchen artifacts range from 83% to
60%. The highest percentages are from Hall’s
brothel and from middle-class households on
Square 530. These high percentages are inter-
preted as evidence of the ability of these house-
holds to purchase large quantities of consumer
goods. The high percentage of kitchen artifacts
may also reflect the size of Hall’s household,
both in terms of the number of inmates who
regularly ate there and clients who purchased
meals and drinks during visits. During the
Civil War, when Hall’s brothel had 18 inmates,
the household was probably twice the size of
working-class households in the neighborhood.
Brothels frequently served alcohol and food to
63
clients (Sanger 1939:551; Rosen 1982:94–95).
The number of meals prepared and served in
the brothel greatly exceeded those eaten in
working-class households.
The frequency of artifacts related to the use
of tobacco is lowest in the brothel collection
(Table 2). This low frequency is surprising,
since one would expect brothel clients to indulge
in smoking during their visits. Perhaps clients
used tobacco products that left no remains in
the archaeological record, while members of
family households who smoked used the clay
pipes recovered in those excavations.
Only in the brothel are clothing artifacts
higher than 1%. These artifacts, primarily gar-
ment closures and shoes, may reflect greater
expenditures on personal attire by the brothel
inmates. Artifacts in the activities group
account for nearly 2% of the brothel collection.
Flower pot fragments and lamp chimney glass
account for many of the objects in this group.
Artifact patterns were compared for three
brothel collections (Table 3). The collections
compared with Hall’s brothel are from brothels
dated to 1870–1890 and 1890–1914 from Square
257–258, in the Washington, DC, red-light dis-
trict known as Hooker’s Division (Seifert 1991).
The collections from the brothels of three peri-
ods exhibit distinctly different patterns, indi-
cating that household function alone does not
account for artifact pattern.
The percentage of kitchen artifacts is high
for Hall’s brothel but low (ca. 50%) for the
other brothels. The status of Hall’s brothel
may account for the high percentage of kitchen
artifacts. Hall’s brothel was a well-known,
high-class business in the 1860s (O’Brien, this
volume). The brothels in Hooker’s Division
in 1870–1890 probably did not serve the same
class of clientele that frequented Hall’s. The
1890–1914 brothels in Hooker’s Division appear
to have enjoyed a higher standard of living than
their predecessors in the neighborhood.
Differences in other artifact groups are prob-
ably a function of purchasing power. The
1870–1890 brothels have the lowest percentage
of clothing artifacts (under 1%); Hall’s brothel
has over 1%, but the 1890–1914 brothels have
over 2%. The clothing group in Hall’s brothel
assemblage is composed primarily of shoe parts;
buttons account for most of the objects in this
group for the Square 257–258 collections. The
 64

TABLE 2
ARTIFACT GROUPS FROM SELECTED WASHINGTON, DC, ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES

Sq 373 D1 Sq 530 Sq 455 Sq 530 Res. C Sq 257–258 Sq 455 Sq 455 Res. C Sq 257–258
15-3b L9 15-3c VII, IX 6a L4 L3, L6 III, IV 1, 3a
19-3
MCH MCH MCH MCH B WCT MCH WCT WCT WCT
Artifact
group 1844–1857 1850–1860 1850–1876 1860–1870 1860–1870 1860–1870 1850–1875 1850–1880 1871–1886 1870–1890

A 22.81% 19.02% 28.71% 15.70% 13.50% 20.97% 31.79% 36.83% 20.01% 19.00%
K 74.53% 79.84% 67.42% 81.68% 82.86% 76.68% 62.75% 60.06% 72.59% 72.74%
C .92% — .16% .16% 1.22% .21% — .40% .57% .42%
F — .33% — — .04% — — — .16% —
P .10% — 1.29% .25% .22% .16% 4.51% .54% .20% .49%
R — — — .01% — — — — .05%
T .67% .33% 1.13% 1.39% .20% .78% .45% 1.46% .10% 1.03%
Z .97% .49% 1.29% .82% 1.93% 1.20% .49% .71% 6.28% 6.25%
A+K 97.34% 98.96% 96.13% 97.38% 96.36% 97.65% 94.54% 96.89% 92.60% 90.74%
N 3,907 615 620 1,223 20,982 1,917 2,639 12,889 1,589 2,032

Key
MCH=middle-class household A=architecture P=personal A+K=architecture plus kitchen
B=brothel K=kitchen R=arms N=total count
WCT=working-class tenant C=clothing T=tobacco
F=furniture Z=activities
HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 39(1)
DONNA J. SEIFERT AND JOSEPH BALICKI—Mary Ann Hall’s House
TABLE 3
ARTIFACT GROUPS FROM WASHINGTON, DC, BROTHELS
Reservation C
Phases VII, IX
Artifact Group 1860–1870
A 13.50%
K 82.86%
C 1.22%
F .04%
P .22%
R .01%
T .20%
Z 1.93%
A+K 96.36%
N 20,982
Key
A=architecture P=Personal A+K=architecture plus kitchen
K= kitchen R=arms N=total count
C=clothing T=tobacco
F=furniture Z=activities
1890–1914 brothel collections include black
glass buttons interpreted as a reflection of the
fancy clothes worn by the resident prostitutes
(Seifert 1991:98–99).
The low percentage of artifacts related to
tobacco use in the assemblage from Hall’s
brothel is difficult to explain. Assemblages
from both Square 257–258 brothels exhibit
higher percentages, especially the 1870–1890
assemblage. The difference between the Square
257–258 percentages may reflect the decreasing
use of pipes and increasing use of cigarettes by
the turn of the century (Peiss 1986:99; Cook
1989:224).
Personal artifacts in Hall’s brothel and the
1870–1890 brothel collection account for
less than 1% of each collection. This group
accounts for more than 1% of the 1890–1914
brothels. Although the percentages vary, the
composition of the group is similar: mirror
fragments, hairpins and combs, and jewelry
parts are represented along with writing imple-
ments and coins.
The differences in the percentages represented
by the activities group are dramatic. This group
accounts for over 12% of the 1890–1914 brothel
collection; the percentages are much lower for
65
Square 257–258 Square 257–258
Phases 4a, 5a Phases 3b, 4b, 7
1870–1890 1890–1914
43.14% 31.72%
49.65% 50.73%
.85% 2.22%
.24%
.54% 1.16%
.02%
3.02% 1.27%
2.79% 12.63%
92.79% 82.44%
1,291 10,668
both other collections. Lamp chimney glass
accounts for most of this group in the 1890–1914
collection. Lamp chimney glass and flower pot
fragments are well represented in both other col-
lections, but the high numbers of chimney glass
fragments in the 1890–1914 collection account
for the high percentage. This high percentage
has been interpreted as evidence of night work
(Seifert 1991:100–101). Since the inmates of
Hall’s brothel probably worked nights as well,
the low percentage of lighting glass is puzzling.
Perhaps Hall’s brothel continued to use candles
along with the new kerosene (coal oil) lamps that
became popular in the 1860s (Woodhead et al.
1984:48,58). Incandescent gas lighting became
popular in the late-19th century (Woodhead et al.
1984:61), and the 1890–1914 brothel collections
may represent households that used both kerosene
and incandescent gas lighting.
Pattern analysis demonstrated that brothel
assemblages are different from working-class
households, but brothels of different periods
and statuses are different from each other.
There is no simple brothel pattern, no clear
artifact signature that reveals a brothel in
the archaeological record. Brothels generally
yield unusual artifact assemblages that differ
66
from those of their neighbors, but analysis of
primary documents was critical in identifying
the Washington, DC, brothels and interpreting
their archaeological assemblages.
Ceramics and Consumer Choice
Closer examination of the ceramic wares
among the collections revealed important dif-
ferences in purchasing patterns. Comparison
of ceramics from Hall’s brothel with other
types of households and with other brothels
exhibited important differences in the collec-
tions (Tables 4, 5). More than 50% of the
collection from Hall’s brothel is ironstone and
porcelain. White ironstone tablewares became
popular in the late 1850s, and the high percent-
age of this ware suggests attention to fashion.
The high percentage of porcelain also suggests
expenditures for expensive tablewares. While
other households in the comparative sample
continued to use pearlwares and whitewares,
Hall’s tables were set with white ironstone and
porcelain. The high percentage of porcelain
separates this assemblage from all of the com-
parative collections.
Most of the ironstone and porcelain dishes
in the brothel collection are white and undeco-
rated. There is little evidence that dishes were
purchased as sets, although similar dishes were
apparently selected. Some plates, cups, and
saucers are decorated with a gilt band near the
rim. There are also several white, paneled cups
and saucers in both ironstone and porcelain, a
style referred to as Gothic (Wall 1991:76) that
was popular in middle-class family households,
particularly for family dining (Wall 1991:78).
Apparently, the Gothic style, interpreted as a
symbol of the middle-class Christian home, the
sanctuary of domesticity (Wall 1994:160; Fitts
and Yamin 1996:95–96), was also a preferred
style in Hall’s brothel. Perhaps the Gothic-style
ironstone and porcelain was used primarily by
the brothel inmates, and the gilt-decorated por-
celains were used by visitors to the house. If
dinnerware and tea ware in the Gothic style
were selected by middle-class wives to evoke
a feeling of domestic security and morality, this
style would surely have been an unlikely choice
for entertaining in a high-class brothel.
The collection from Hall’s brothel is also
unusual in its high percentages of redware,
HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 39(1)
yellowware, and stoneware food-preparation and
storage vessels. These utilitarian wares account
for 30% of the Hall collection but only 10%
to 19% of the comparative collections (Tables
4, 5). The high percentages of two expensive
tablewares and three utility wares support the
interpretation that the brothel was preparing and
serving meals to a large household of inmates
and to clients. The high percentage of kitchen-
group artifacts in the brothel collection supports
this interpretation as well.
Comparison of ceramic wares from the later
brothels in Hooker’s Division reflects the dif-
ferent economic status of those brothels (Seifert
1991). The 1870–1890 brothel collection exhibits
percentages of wares that are similar to those of
contemporaneous working-class households from
the same neighborhood, but the 1890–1914 broth-
els show some similarities to Hall’s brothel. The
percentages of ironstone and porcelain are lower
in the 1890–1914 brothel collection, although
these percentages are higher than percentages
for these wares in contemporaneous working-
class households in Square 257–258 (Cheek et al.
1991:table 5). The differences between Hooker’s
Division collections are not as dramatic as those
seen when comparing Hall’s brothel with con-
temporaneous households. Percentages of utility
wares are also relatively high in the 1890–1914
brothels. Ceramic evidence from these collec-
tions, as well as zooarchaeological data indicat-
ing high frequencies of expensive, individual
meat cuts, suggests that these brothels were also
serving meals to clients (Cheek et al. 1991:55;
Seifert 1991:103).
Analysis of vessel forms also provides data
useful in understanding household function
(Tables 6, 7). Vessel forms were divided into
seven general classes that reflect the functions of
ceramic vessels in the household. Many of the
vessels in each collection could not be assigned
to a form class, and data were not available for
the comparative collections from Square 455.
The percentage of tablewares in the brothel
collection is higher than the percentages from
the contemporaneous working-class collections,
and the percentage of tea and coffee vessels is
lower (Table 7). The most striking difference
is in the higher percentages of serving vessels
and food preparation vessels. These higher per-
centages support the conclusion that the brothels
were serving a large household and were serving
 TABLE 4
CERAMIC WARES FROM SELECTED WASHINGTON, DC, ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES

Sq 530 Sq 455 Sq 530 Res. C Sq 257–258 Sq 455 Sq 455 Res. C Sq 257–258

15-3b L9 15-3c VII, IX 6a L4 L3, L6 III, IV 1, 3a
19-3
MCH MCH MCH B WCT MCH WCT WCT WCT
Ware 1850–1860 1850– 1870 1860–1870 1860–1870 1860–1870 1850–1875 1850–1880 1871–1886 1870–1890

Creamware 2.94% 6.56% 3.34% 12.90% 2.83% 1.56% .83%

Pearlware 35.29% 32.19% 33.69% .06% 11.60% 20.27% 16.10% .35% 9.14%
Whiteware 37.78% 34.69% 45.64% 11.69% 53.60% 43.52% 50.75% 32.09% 46.42%
Ironstone 2.94% 5.94% 4.52% 29.24% 2.90% 1.94% 7.24% 39.57% 18.48%
Porcelain 2.71% 5.00% 2.37% 26.61% 4.80% 15.42% 5.12% 8.29% 3.53%
Redware 14.25% 3.44% 5.71% 14.91% 8.1% 6.18% 3.31% 3.74% 10.49%
Yellowware .45% 2.50% 1.72% 9.32% .70% 2.01% 6.85% 8.06% 1.45%
DONNA J. SEIFERT AND JOSEPH BALICKI—Mary Ann Hall’s House

Stoneware 1.58% 5.31% 2.26% 6.60% 4.70% 5.14% 4.69% 7.20% 9.66%
Unid./misc. 2.04% 4.38% .75% 1.59% .90% 2.68% 4.38% .69%
N 442 320 929 8,829 766 1,342 5,565 1,736 963

Key
MCH=middle-class household
B=brothel
WCT=working-class tenant
N=total count
67
68 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 39(1)

TABLE 5
CERAMIC WARES FROM WASHINGTON, DC, BROTHELS

Reservation C Sq 257–258 Sq 257–258

Phases VII, IX Phases 4a, 5 Phases 3b, 4b, 7

Ware 1860–1870 1870–1890 1890–1914

Creamware 2.88% .32%

Pearlware .06% 6.64% 2.24%
Whiteware 11.69% 53.54% 29.49%
Ironstone 29.24% 19.03% 26.20%
Porcelain 26.61% 3.98% 14.26%
Redware 14.91% 2.65% 15.30%
Yellowware 9.32% 1.55% 8.49%
Stoneware 6.60% 7.96% 2.56%
Unidentified 1.59% 1.77% .88%
N 8,829 452 1,248

TABLE 6
VESSEL FORMS FROM SELECTED WASHINGTON, DC, ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES

Sq. 373 Sq. 530 Sq. 530 Res. C Sq. 257–258 Res. C Sq. 257–258
D1 15-3b 15-3c VII, IX 258 III, IV 258
19-3 6a 1, 3a

MCH MCH MCH B WCT WCT WCT

Vessel Form 1844– 1857 1850–1860 1860–1870 1860–1870 1860–1870 1871–1886 1870– 1890

Tableware 22.7% 22.2% 29.1% 31.73% 13.60% 37.68% 45.80%

Serving 10.5% 3.7% 15.86% 4.20% 7.25% 5.90%
Tea/Coffee 26.5% 27.8% 25.84% 21.81% 30.10% 20.29% 12.40%
Food Preparation 10.1% 3.7% 5.62% 13.31% 5.40% 10.14% 5.20%
Hygiene 2.5% 3.37% 3.12% 2.70% 4.35%
Other 4.2% 1.12% 1.70%
Unassigned 23.5% 42.6% 34.83% 14.16% 44.00% 20.29% 28.80%
N 272 54 89 353 73 70 153

Key
MCH=middle-class household
B=brothel
WCT=working-class tenant
N=total count

meals to clients. Although relative percentages
of tableware, serving vessels, and tea and coffee
vessels vary, particularly among the working-class
households, no other collection had so many
serving and preparation vessels.
The collections associated with the 1870–1890
working-class households have high percentages
of tablewares and low percentages of serving
vessels. These percentages suggest that serv-
ing vessels were generally not used to bring
DONNA J. SEIFERT AND JOSEPH BALICKI—Mary Ann Hall’s House
TABLE 7
VESSEL FORMS FROM WASHINGTON, DC, BROTHELS
Reservation C
Phases VII, IX
Vessel Form 1860–1870
Tableware 31.73%
Serving 15.86%
Tea/Coffee 21.81%
Food Preparation 13.31%
Hygiene 3.12%
Other
Unassigned 14.16%
N 69
food to the table in these households. Notable
differences are seen in the percentages of tea
and coffee vessels and food preparation vessels.
The low percentages of tea and coffee vessels in
the Hooker’s Division working-class collections
suggest that serving tea was not an important
household activity in those households.
Comparison of brothels from three time
periods reveals higher percentages of tea and
coffee vessels in the later collections but lower
percentages of tableware, serving vessels, and
food preparation vessels. Although the vessel
analysis indicates that Hall’s brothel served
meals to clients, the vessel analysis does not
support the interpretation that the later brothels
served meals to clients. Hall’s brothel was a
first-class brothel serving men of means who
probably expected to purchase expensive food
and champagne when they visited the house.
The later brothels do not appear to have served
the same class of clientele or offered the same
range of amenities.
A more sensitive indicator of household
expenditures for ceramics is the Miller ceramic
index. Analysis of indices provides a means
of comparing expenditures among households
and assessing economic status. George Miller
(1980) developed a series of index values
based on price lists and on the cost of the
least expensive ware, common creamware.
Decorated types were more expensive than
plain types, and ironstone and porcelain were
more expensive than most of the refined earth-
69
Sq 257–258 Sq 257–258
Phases 4a, 5a Phases 3b, 4b, 7
1870–1890 1890–1914
22.50% 28.00%
7.80% 7.20%
23.60% 25.10%
7.80% 7.70%
2.20% 2.40%
6.80%
36.00% 23.20%
89 207
enwares (creamware, pearlware, and whiteware).
Miller’s indices apply to ceramics from 1787 to
1886. Susan Henry (1987) developed comple-
mentary indices for the late-19th and early-20th
centuries, using mail-order catalogues. Miller’s
indices were used in the analysis of the Hall
collection; Henry’s indices were used for the
later comparative collections.
The mean ceramic date of the deposit was
used to select the appropriate year and value.
Miller’s indices include values for few Eng-
lish porcelains, so values were calculated first
without including porcelain. Porcelain accounts
for 27% of the Hall collection. To incorporate
porcelain in the indices, a value of 4.00 was
assigned to all porcelain, without regard to
decoration (Tables 8, 9). This value is prob-
ably conservative. Porcelain was included in
the original analysis of the ceramics from Area
Dl, Square 373, at a value of 4.55 (Garrow
1982:116,125). By incorporating porcelain in
the index values for Hall’s brothel, the brothel’s
expenditures for ceramics can be compared with
those of other households.
The mean index value for the collection
from Hall’s brothel is the highest value of all
the collections. The value for refined earthen-
wares is higher than each of the indices from
middle-class households, and when porcelain is
included in all indices, the difference is even
more striking. Only the bowl index for the
brothel collection is lower than some of the
other bowl indices. The high percentage of
70 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 39(1)

TABLE 8
CERAMIC INDICES FROM SELECTED WASHINGTON, DC, ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES1

Sq 373 Sq 530 Sq 530 Res. C Sq 257–258 Res. C Sq 257–258

D1 15-3b 15-3c VII, IX 6a,1c III, IV 1, 3a
19-3

MCH MCH MCH B WCT WCT WCT

Vessel Type 1844–1857 1850–1860 1860–1870 1860–1870 1860–1870 1871–1886 1870– 1890

Cup & Saucer 2.30/2.79 1.78/2.52 1.24/1.24 3.32/3.57 1.84/1.96 2.20/2.38 1.88/1.98
Plate 2.17/2.17 2.15/2.15 1.59/1.59 2.75/3.18 1.18/1.43 2.03/2.19 1.38/1.79
Bowl 1.43/1.43 3.0/3.0 2.92/2.92 1.77/2.21 1.08/1.08 1.94/1.94 1.44/1.44
Mean Index 2.04/2.23 2.07/2.32 1.73/1.73 2.76/3.18 1.62/1.79 2.06/2.21 1.51/1.75
1
The first index is calculated for refined earthenwares only; the second index includes porcelain at a value of 4.00.
Key
MCH=middle-class household
B=brothel
WCT=working-class tenant

TABLE 9
CERAMIC INDICES FROM WASHINGTON, DC, BROTHELS1

Reservation C Sq 257–258 Sq 257–258

Phases VII, IX Phase 4a, 5a Phase 3b, 4b, 7

Vessel Type 1860–1870 1870–1890 1890–1914

Cup & Saucer 3.32/3.57 1.83/2.17 1.98/2.15

Plate 2.75/3.18 1.50/1.50 1.25/1.37
Bowl 1.77/2.21 2.78/2.78 1.11/1.59
Mean Index 2.76/3.18 1.82/1.99 1.58/1.70

1
The first index is calculated for refined earthware only; the second index includes porcelain at a value of 4.00 for the 1860–1870
and 1870–1890 collections. The porcelain values cited by Henry (1987) were used for the 1890–1914 deposits.

porcelain and ironstone vessels accounts for Foodways

the high individual and mean indices in the
brothel collection.
Comparison of the indices from Hall’s brothel
with the brothel collections from Hooker’s Divi-
sion indicates that these later brothels were
buying less expensive tablewares and tea and
coffee vessels. The indices for the late broth-
els are the lowest, suggesting low expenditures
for dishes, even though these households were
apparently consuming expensive meat cuts
(Cheek et al. 1991:70).
Analysis of the faunal remains from Hall’s
brothel also reflects purchasing and consump-
tion patterns that differ from those of the
neighboring working-class households and sug-
gests some expensive purchases (Seifert et al.
1998:appendix VIII). The inmates of Hall’s
brothel enjoyed a diet of domestic animals
supplemented with wild birds, turtle, and fish.
No wild mammals were identified in the col-
lection. The proportion of fish, turtle, and wild
DONNA J. SEIFERT AND JOSEPH BALICKI—Mary Ann Hall’s House
bird biomass, and the dietary variety that these
foods reflect, may be a function of economic
status or ethnicity. Higher frequencies of these
species appear in assemblages associated with
high-income Euro-American households in the
Atlantic coastal plain. The greater reliance on
fish, turtle, and wild bird in the brothel collec-
tion suggests that the brothel was able to pur-
chase a variety of specialty foods and delica-
cies in local markets. The collection from the
brothel suggests that turtles and birds represent
nearly equal and significant percentages of the
biomass. Beef comprised the highest percent-
age of biomass (42%), followed by pork (37%),
and mutton/goat (21%). Meat cuts represented
in the brothel collection are primarily high- to
medium-priced cuts of beef, pork, and mutton/
goat. Laying hens were also apparently kept
and consumed by the brothel residents.
The faunal remains from the brothel reflect a
diet that included more turtle meat, fish, wild
bird, and beef than the diet of their working-
class neighbors, which exhibited less variety and
more reliance on pork and chicken. Wild foods
are not common in the working-class deposits.
Meat was probably purchased at local markets,
although a few remains were recovered that
could represent refuse from secondary butcher-
ing or carcass trimming (Seifert et al. 1998:194,
appendix VIII).
Evidence of plant foods also reflects a diet
with more variety than the working-class diet.
Raspberry, strawberry, fig, grape, apple, cherry/
plum, elderberry, peach, bean, squash, walnut,
and coconut were identified in the deposits
associated with Hall’s brothel. Berries and
beans may have been grown in a backyard
garden adjacent to the brothel, although these
may have been purchased with other fruits and
vegetables at local markets.
Consumption of champagne in the brothel is
reflected by bottles, corks, and bales. Contem-
porary sources report that only champagne, not
wine or beer, was served in first-class brothels
(Sanger 1939:550). Archaeological evidence
here is consistent with the classification of
Hall’s brothel in the provost marshal’s list as
a first-class house (U.S. Army Corps of Engi-
neers 1864–1865; O’Brien, this volume). The
paucity of drinking glasses in the assemblage is,
however, puzzling. Either vessels of materials
71
other than glass were used, or the champagne
glasses were not disposed of with the rest of
the household refuse. Neither explanation is
satisfying, but the archaeological remains offer
no other evidence.
Conclusion
Archaeological evidence from deposits asso-
ciated with Mary Ann Hall’s brothel reflects a
large household that enjoyed many expensive
consumer goods and a varied diet. This inter-
pretation is supported by documentary evidence.
When compared with family households in
Washington, DC, the material culture of Hall’s
brothel shares many attributes of the middle-
class households and clearly exhibits higher
expenditures for tablewares and food than the
neighboring working-class households.
Comparisons among Washington, DC, brothels
revealed no single brothel pattern or artifact sig-
nature. Brothel assemblages are different from
neighboring middle- and working-class house-
hold assemblages, but brothel assemblages also
reflect differences within the household type.
Brothel assemblages are peculiar, but they are
peculiar in different ways for different time
periods and economic classes.
The archaeology of the brothel reflects
household composition (inmates and clients)
and dual function as residence and workplace.
For the kin-based households in 19th-century
Washington, DC, home and workplace were
separate for at least some members of the
household. Certainly work was done in the
home, but this work was primarily the work of
running the household, not wage labor. Place
of employment was outside the home. The
brothel, however, served as both residence and
workplace for the prostitutes, and nonresident
clients spent time and money in the house. In
addition to the sexual services they purchased,
clients also purchased food and beverages, at
least in Hall’s house. While physical evidence
of the services is lacking, the archaeological
assemblage yielded evidence of the expensive
libations and varied comestibles and their
elegant presentation. Considered together, the
documentary and archaeological records reveal a
well-known and well-appointed household, just
at the foot of Capitol Hill.
72
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Data recovery investigations at the Mall museum
site of the National Museum of the American Indian
were sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and
conducted by John Milner Associates, Inc., under
contract to Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, Inc.
Justin Estoque, Smithsonian Institution Office of the
Physical Plant, facilitated every step of the process
and maintained interest in both the research results
and finding ways to share these results with the
professional community and the public. The success
of an excavation rests with the field team, and JMA
was well served by the team that worked in this
site. The field team, which included Bryan Corle,
Jason Shields, Charles Goode, and Jennifer Green,
was supervised by Joseph Balicki with the assistance
of Dana B. Heck. Analysis of the floral and faunal
collections was conducted by Leslie E. Raymer, Richard
A. Fuss, and Lisa D. O’Steen of New South Associates,
Inc. Gerald K. Kelso analyzed the pollen samples,
and Irwin Rovner analyzed the phytolith samples. Our
understanding of the foodways and land use of the
site was enhanced by the interpretations prepared by
these specialists. Sarah Ruch and Robert Schultz
prepared the graphics used in this paper, and Julie
Cruz prepared the data tables. As always, Charles
D. Cheek offered his valuable critical assessments of
our interpretation.
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