The Nanticoke Historic Preservation Alliance (NHPA), in partnership with the Slave Dwelling Project and The Chronicles of Adam, will host Amplifying the Voices: An Innovative Approach to Interpreting Complex Histories, October 22nd – 24th, at the Handsell Historic Site (4837 Indiantown Road, Vienna, Maryland). The three-day program reflects a growing commitment within the public history field to recognize the humanity, agency, and contributions of historically marginalized people.
Amplifying the Voices will be facilitated by Joseph McGill, founder and executive director of the Slave Dwelling Project, and Dontavius Williams, founder of The Chronicles of Adam. Drawing upon their extensive experience in historical interpretation and public engagement, McGill and Williams will lead an immersive exploration of how historic places can more fully acknowledge the people and communities connected to their past.
Amplifying the Voices will look at how historical narratives and myths are created, whose perspectives have traditionally been most visible, and how interpreters can responsibly approach histories that are complex, difficult, or incomplete. It will also examine the deep connections between Indigenous peoples, enslaved Africans and African Americans, and Colonial/settler communities and their uneasy relationships to wealth, justice, and power.
Day One (Thursday, October 22nd) programming will be geared towards staff and volunteers from historical organizations and preservation groups. Something of a professional development day, it will demonstrate the significance of community memory, how archival records may reveal or obscure certain experiences, and how language and perspective shape stories that are presented to the public. The facilitators will use NHPA’s enslaved database as a real-world example and suggest ways to effectively interpret and share such material.
Day Two (Friday, October 23rd) programs will be open to organizations and the general public. The morning session will feature a teach-in workshop from Chesapeake Heartland: An African American Humanities Project team, designed by Director Darius Johnson and Maryland Commission on African American History & Culture Vice Chair Jaelon T. Moaney. A long-standing effort of Washington College’s Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience and growing collaboration with a diverse array of cultural stewards from all nine Eastern Shore counties, Chesapeake Heartland strives to preserve, digitize, interpret, and make accessible materials related to the African Diaspora through preservation, community curation, and interpretation on the Delmarva Peninsula.
The afternoon session will feature testimonials from descendants of the enslaved on the meaning and magnitude of their ancestors’ stories. Drew Shuptar-Rayvis, a professional Indigenous living history presenter, will discuss interpretation of the Native culture..
Day Three (Saturday, October 24th) will be a full day of living history interpretation at Handsell. It will feature the Inalienable Rights Interpreters and other professional living history presenters and include powerful stories, traditional songs, and crafts demonstrations. Open to the public, the family friendly event will also include food trucks, hands-on colonial games and activities for children.
Additional information regarding registration and a full schedule of events will be announced by NHPA in mid-September, with online registration available by September 16. Space is limited to 80 attendees on Thursday and Friday. This is a free event supported in its entirety by the Miller Fund of the Maryland Center for History and Culture. Questions should be directed to restorehandsell@gmail.com.
About the Training Facilitators
Joseph McGill is the founder and executive director of the Slave Dwelling Project, an organization dedicated to preserving and interpreting historic sites associated with slavery and ensuring that the lives and experiences of enslaved Ancestors are more fully represented within the American historical narrative.
Dontavius Williams is the founder of The Chronicles of Adam, a public history organization dedicated to bringing greater visibility to the lives, experiences, and legacies of enslaved and free African Americans through historical interpretation, research, educational programming, and partnerships with museums and historic sites.
McGill and Williams bring years of experience interpreting the history of slavery at historic sites and engaging institutions and communities in conversations about how this history is researched, preserved, and presented to the public.
About the Nanticoke Historic Preservation Alliance
The Nanticoke Historic Preservation Alliance is an all-volunteer non-profit located at the Handsell Historic site, listed on the National Register of Historic Places and a Chesapeake Bay Gateway Network Place. It owns and maintains Handsell with a mission to tell the history of three cultures who have lived and labored there over four centuries.
About the Slave Dwelling Project
The Slave Dwelling Project is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and interpreting historic sites associated with slavery while uplifting the voices and experiences of enslaved Ancestors. Through preservation, education, historical interpretation, public programs, overnight stays at sites associated with slavery, conferences, and community engagement, the organization works to ensure that the contributions and lived experiences of people of African heritage are more fully represented within the American historical narrative.
Grounded in researched history and a commitment to honest dialogue, the Slave Dwelling Project brings together scholars, preservationists, educators, students, artists, organizations, and communities to preserve significant historic places, confront the legacies of slavery, and encourage meaningful conversations about slavery, race, racism, and racial equity.
About The Chronicles of Adam
Founded in 2014, The Chronicles of Adam is a public history organization dedicated to bringing greater visibility to the lives, experiences, and legacies of enslaved and free African Americans. Through historical interpretation, research, educational programming, and partnerships with museums and historic sites, The Chronicles of Adam works to move people beyond traditional narratives of slavery by centering the humanity, agency, knowledge, resilience, and lived experiences of the people whose stories have too often been marginalized or overlooked.
The organization collaborates with historic institutions and communities to develop thoughtful, historically grounded approaches to interpreting difficult histories and creating meaningful connections between the past and the present.