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ABSTRACT: This dissertation explores emerging methods for translating academic research into public knowledge. It focuses on the site of Rosewood, Florida. This town was once home to a prosperous African American community, one which became increasingly segregated during Jim Crow. The community was shattered by a week-long episode of racial violence, culminating in the systematic burning of the entire town, commonly referred to as the Rosewood Race Riot or Rosewood Incident. This PhD examines the history, life, and community of Rosewood prior to 1923. The history of Rosewood is viewed in relation to larger social developments throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This contextualization within broader social patterns of American history demonstrates the connection between past episodes of racial violence and modern social inequality. The dissertation directly examines the potential new media technologies, such as virtual world environments and digital storytelling, hold for public archaeology and history.