Under a grant through the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of South Carolina in 2009, Eric served as the project historian and completed a settlement history of the land now occupied by the US Army and National Guard installation at Fort Jackson, located just to the east of Columbia, South Carolina. Originally established in 1917 as a World War I cantonment called Camp Jackson, the military installation sits on land that was once occupied by various rural farming communities, schools, churches, and plantations, including lands previously owned by the Wade Hampton family. The purpose of the settlement history project was to document the use of this land and its immediate surrounding area prior to the various transfers of these parcels to the federal government.