Competing Identity: Methodist & Voodoo Practices in African American Life

Kirsti Uunila, Archaeologist, is the next speaker in the Inaugural Schell Lecture Series

Baltimore, Maryland (May 20, 2016) Calvert County Historic Preservation Planner, Kirsti Uunila, will present “Competing Identities: Methodist Episcopal & Voodoo Practices in African American Life,” on Saturday, June 18, at 2pm at the Lovely Lane United Methodist Church and Museum, 2200 St. Paul Street. Parking is available adjacent to the church, in front of the Lab School. Admission is $5 for members of the United Methodist Historical Society and $10 for non-members. Light refreshments will precede the talk at 1:30. This is the next lecture scheduled in the inaugural Schell Lecture Series.

In 1790, Calvert County, MD was over 50% black, free and enslaved. Now, the county seeks to explore and preserve early African American sites as urban sprawl takes over and the demographics shift. The Indian Rest property in Southern Maryland is one of these sites. There sits a log cabin that has continually housed African Americans from at least the 1870s-1934. In recent years, archaeologists, under the lead of Kirsti Uunila, spent several years on this dig that produced artifacts showing competing religious identities in the same family. Caches of beads, called bundles, point towards voodoo practices, while this family was also faithful members of an all-African American Methodist Episcopal Church in the community. This lecture, originally presented at the Society for Historical Archaeology will explore the findings and their significance in understanding African American communities of the late 18th and early 19th centuries in the mid-Atlantic.

Kirsti Uunila is fascinated by the history, anthropology, and archaeology in Maryland and the mid-Atlantic. She has worked on dozens of projects, including Sukeek’s Cabin, the Old Wallville One-Room Schoolhouse, and this site at Indian Rest throughout her time with the Maryland State Highway Administration, as a Public Archaeologist at the Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum/Maryland Historical Trust, and the Calvert County Government. Even on “vacation” she is engaged in archaeology—for many years she worked on the Strawbridge Shrine excavation in Carroll County, one of the United Methodist Historical Sites. Uunila holds a BA in Anthropology from the University of Arizona and a MAA in Anthropology from the University of Maryland College Park. She believes that “the past can be a powerful tool for building better, more just communities in the present…[to inform] local public conversations on race, social relations, and education among a diverse population.”

Through lectures focusing on the history of United Methodism in the Baltimore-Washington area, the lecture series honors the legacy of Rev. Ed Schell who served as Archivist and Historian of The United Methodist Church’s Baltimore-Washington Conference for 50 years.

The 2015-16 Series began in October with a presentation on John Goucher and concludes on June 18 with Uunila’s presentation. The 2016-17 Series will begin on November 5 with a lecture on the role of women in Francis Asbury’s ministry.

Those planning to attend the lecture may pre-purchase tickets online or at door using cash or credit. Any questions may be directed to [email protected] or 410-889-4458. More information, including ticket purchases, updates on the lecture series and membership registration, can be found on the Historical Society website: www.lovelylanemuseum.com.