BALTIMORE, Md. (October 6, 2025) – The Maryland Center for History and Culture (MCHC) has named Anna Majeski, PhD, as the new Lilly Endowment Curator of Religious History. This position is supported by a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its Religion and Cultural Institutions Initiative. The $2.5M grant funds a larger programming and research initiative at MCHC that aims to interpret the history of religious diversity and contested stories of religious tolerance in the state of Maryland.
Majeski received her PhD in Art History from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and her curatorial work tells nuanced stories about the rich yet complex American past through the lens of visual and material culture. At the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, she curated the 2024 exhibition Sketching Splendor: American Natural History, 1750-1850, exploring the work of John James Audubon, William Bartram, and Titian Ramsey Peale.
“The hiring team was particularly impressed with Anna’s thoughtfulness and nuanced approach to creating historical exhibitions with regard to a modern lens,” explained Catherine Rogers Arthur, MCHC Vice President of Collections and Chief Curator. “We look forward to this deep dive into both the Museum and Library’s significant collections, and the stories we can tell about faith traditions in Maryland.”
Working with the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies (ICJS) based in Baltimore, MCHC will launch a major exhibition curated by Majeski in the fall of 2026, along with corresponding publications, educational resources, and public programs.
“ICJS is delighted to welcome Dr. Anna Majeski into this important work,” said ICJS Executive Director Heather Miller Rubens, PhD. “She will be collaborating closely with my colleague Dr. Fatimah Fanusie, ICJS Program Director for Museums and Libraries, to bring Maryland’s history of religious diversity into sharper focus. Together with MCHC, we look forward to creating exhibitions and programs that illuminate Maryland’s complex religious past, while inviting today’s religious communities into dialogue about religious diversity and our shared civic life.”
MCHC is one of 33 organizations from across the United States to receive grants through the latest round of the Lilly Endowment’s Religion and Cultural Institutions Initiative, which aims to support museums and other cultural organizations as they strengthen their capacity to provide fair, accurate, and balanced portrayals of the role religion has played in the United States and around the world.
“Often called ‘America in Miniature’ for its unique convergence of geography, history, lifeways, and ethnic groups, Maryland’s role in the story of religious tolerance and pluralism is particularly relevant today as we approach the United States Semiquincentennial in 2026,” said Katie Caljean, MCHC President and CEO. “While established as a Catholic refuge with a commitment to tolerance of different faiths codified in Maryland’s 1649 Act of Toleration, the earliest of its kind in British North America, history shows this ideal stressed, redacted, and reinstated almost cyclically throughout the development of our state and nation.” In this role, Majeski will also serve as a resource and connector to faith communities statewide,
collaborating with MCHC Library staff to advise churches, synagogues, mosques, and other faith-based community organizations on the preservation and care of their collections and records. Moreover, the 2026 exhibition will work closely with Indigenous communities to platform their perspectives on Maryland as both ancestral and contemporary spiritual landscape. “As Lilly Endowment Curator of Religious History, I am excited to delve into MCHC’s collections and collaborate with communities across Maryland to help steward and share stories about our state’s diverse landscape of faith,” said Majeski.
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ABOUT THE MARYLAND CENTER FOR HISTORY AND CULTURE The Maryland Center for History and Culture (MCHC) collects, preserves, and interprets the history, art, and culture of Maryland. Originally founded as the Maryland Historical Society in 1844, MCHC inspires critical thinking, creativity, and community through its Museum, Library, and education programs. The Museum is open Wednesday-Saturday, 10 am–5 pm. The H. Furlong Baldwin Library is open Wednesday–Friday and the second Saturday of each month. Learn more at mdhistory.org.
ABOUT THE INSTITUTE FOR ISLAMIC, CHRISTIAN, AND JEWISH STUDIES As an independent, educational nonprofit, the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies (ICJS) straddles the academic arena and the public square with programming to advance interreligious dialogue and understanding. Through educational programming, public-facing scholarship, and relationship-centered fellowships and workshops, ICJS models a new conversation in the public square that affirms religious diversity in the United States. Learn more at icjs.org.