Meet VVAC’s New Director of Collections Margaret Hangan

The Verde Valley Archaeology Center and Museum welcomes Archaeologist Margaret Hangan as our new Director of Collections. Hangan’s extensive career spans 30 years working for the United States Forest Service (USFS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and in the private industry. When Margaret Hangan recently retired from the USFS, she had no plans to stop working. Alongside her new duties at VVAC, Hangan plans on focusing her efforts on researching, preserving, and sharing the history of African Americans throughout the development of the West. 

After graduating high school, Hangan worked in the restaurant industry. It was not until she was in her late 20s when she took a class in anthropology at a local community college that she decided that’s what she wanted to do.

“Like most kids around 10 or 11 years old, I really wanted to be either a paleontologist or an archaeologist,” said Hangan. “But as a teenager, I got away from that. When I finally took the class at the community college, it felt like I was coming home.” 

Hangan transferred into Pitzer College where she received her B.A. in Anthropology. After she received her degree, the very next day she was on her way to Nevada for a job. 

“It just hit, and I didn't see any other way to go back,” said Hangan. “It was either that or become a professional chef. And that wasn't happening.” 

She then worked for Cultural Resource Management (CRM) companies in the private industry for the next decade, working at a nuclear test site in Utah and many military bases. 

In the mid 1990s when funding for large projects like the ones she had been working on dried up, Hangan decided to go to graduate school. She received her Master’s Degree in Anthropology from California State University, Bakersfield. During her second year in graduate school, she got an internship with the Bureau of Land Management, and was soon working there permanently. 

Hangan later transferred to the USFS with her first role as the Forest Archaeologist for the Cleveland National Forest in San Diego. The role of the Forest Archaeologist is to oversee the management of the archaeological resources within the forest lands, including the National Historic Preservation Act process, legal actions, Tribal consultation, and the overall management of the program and staff. 

Hangan transferred to the Kaibab National Forest in Northern Arizona where she spent the next 15 years as their Forest Archaeologist, before transferring to the Tonto National Forest where she worked as the Large Project Archaeologist for the past three years before retiring this January 2025. Her role as the Large Project Archaeologist was to help the forest manage complicated, multi-phased politically sensitive projects, such as Resolution Copper, an underground copper mine near Superior, AZ. She worked on other copper mine projects and fire fuels reduction contracts for Wildfire Crisis Strategy. 

In her spare time, Hangan researches and shares Western Black history and African American diaspora into the West. 

“I inadvertently stepped into finding out that there was significant Black history in Northern Arizona that was hidden…” said Hangan. “There is a lot of Black history out West that the people don't really know about, including a lot of Black people that don’t know about it. Their history is not being recognized.”

“As I started diving into it, I became really fascinated and wanted to pursue more around this history and do more research,” continued Hangan. “With my background as a professional Archaeologist with the federal government, I had a lot of skills that I could apply towards this research and help people to recognize how important this history really is, especially in the development of the West. As soon as I got old enough to retire and I had that option I decided that's what I was going to do.” 

Hangan had been pursuing this passion while with the Forest Service, but is now able to make it a full time endeavor. 

“Having the resources and the ability to be able to dive into this historic research is really something that I'm proud of,” said Hangan. “I'm still building it, but having the freedom to follow this interest and to bring attention to this history is really needed. It's really important to me, so I'm very fortunate to have had the opportunity to fall into it.” 

She plans to continue her research on the diaspora of Northern Arizona African Americans and their work in the lumber industry. 

Hangan is the President of the Board of Directors for the Naco Heritage Alliance (NHA), which aims to preserve Historic Camp Naco, an outpost for Buffalo Soldiers on the US-Mexico border. In partnership with the State Historic Preservation Office and ASU Library’s Black Collections, the NHA is in the process of developing a statewide coalition on Black history that brings together historians, researchers, artists, and others who are interested in preserving Arizona’s Black history. 

“The hope is that we're going to build a network where people can share information and resources with the shared goal of finding ways to highlight and preserve this history that is getting lost, just simply because people don't know it exists,” said Hangan. 

Through the Forest Service and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, Hangan became involved with the Society of Black Archaeologists, an organization that encourages and mentors young Black students into the field of archaeology. 

Hangan first worked with VVAC in 2017 when she was asked to oversee a project at the Hayfield Draw site. 

“I certainly knew of VVAC, but I had not worked with them until I was asked to step in to help with this,” said Hangan. “I was immediately impressed with them, with the volunteers, their professionalism and their knowledge. It was a great experience for me. The best thing I could have done was I stepped in and then got out of the way, because they knew how to address it and did a great job.” 

As the Director of Collections, Hangan is responsible for maintaining the preservation and access of the collections, the development and curation of exhibits, and CRM work. 

“I’m hoping to step in and help enhance what they're already doing and fill in some areas, mainly being a support for the operations that are already happening and help bring in some resources,” said Hangan. 

“VVAC’s mission is conservation, preservation, education, and Margaret's professional career encompasses all of that,” said Monica Buckle, VVAC’s Executive Director. “In addition to her distinguished career with the USFS and BLM, Margaret is also the Chair of the City of Williams Historic Preservation Commission, a member of the Historic Sites Review Committee for the Arizona State Historic Preservation Office, and she also serves on the Arizona State Historical Archaeology Advisory Committee.” 

“I've had a working relationship with Margaret since my arrival at VVAC approximately four years ago,” continued Buckle. “Kathryn Turney, our Director of Archaeology, works very closely with Margaret, and John Rose, Archaeologist collaborated with Margaret when he was at the helm of Prescott National Forest. As well as, Dr. Jim Graceffa having had a wonderful relationship with Margarettoo. Not only that, but Margaret spoke at the museum last October regarding the African American history of the skilled workers in Northern Arizona. Anyone who was in attendance for her talk can attest to the fact that Margaret’s enthusiasm is contagious, her knowledge is paramount, and extremely inspiring. It's an absolute privilege that Margaret is our new Director of Collections and will be taking VVAC’s curation to the next level and expanding our cultural resource management partnerships. It's also a personal honor that I get to work with someone of such integrity as Margaret.”