The first brick building in Maryland was a Catholic Chapel built in the 1660s at St. Mary’s City. This presentation tells the story of this 360 year old building, its rediscovery and archaeology. The clues found and key precedents are presented that led to its accurate reconstruction. Completed in 2025 after decades of research, it is a powerful symbol of the beginning of religious liberty in America. It could only have been built due to Lord Baltimore’s revolutionary policies of Liberty of Conscience, Non-establishment and the Free Exercise of Religion. This is a little-known story but one of national and international significance.
About the speaker:
Henry M. Miller is a historical archaeologist with a Ph. D. from Michigan State University in Anthropology. He has worked in the Chesapeake region for over 50 years. At St. Mary’s City, he began as a digger in 1972, served as Archaeological Curator (1974, 1977-1987), Director of Research (1987-2018), and is now Maryland Heritage Scholar (2017-Present) for the state museum. Miller is adjunct Professor of Anthropology at St. Mary’s College and co-taught for nearly four decades the classes Archaeological Field School and Analytic Methods in Archaeology. He has led the rediscovery and most of the interpretive exhibitions of Maryland’s first capital for decades as well as conducting research in England and Ireland. Further, he directed or been a key member in the efforts to reconstruct ten structures at St. Mary’s City and multiple exhibits including the St. John’s site. Miller served as President of the international Society for Historical Archaeology in 1997, from 2011-2012 was Resident Scholar at the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Oxford. In 2020, he received the prestigious J. C. Harrington Award from the
Society for Historical Archaeology, the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for the field. Research interests include architecture, city planning, ceramics and tobacco pipes, environmental archaeology and foodways. Current research is about the intellectual influences on and implementation of the Maryland Design by the Lords Baltimore and their associates.
To join virtually visit the Enoch Pratt Free Library's Facebook or Youtube page.
ASL interpretation will be available for attendees.
Presented in partnership with The Maryland State Archives and The Maryland Four Centuries Project.
