Wednesday October 24th @ 7 pm In Search of Community: Archaeology at the Abyssinian Meeting House Portland, Maine with Martha Pinello

The Abyssinian Meeting House is a simple wood-frame building constructed between 1828 and 1831 to serve Portland, Maine’s African American community. The Meeting House was the cultural center for African-Americans in southern Maine from its inception until it closed in 1917. When established, it was the third African American Meeting House in the United States after Boston and Nantucket, Massachusetts. It housed Portland's 19th century public school for black children. The congregation was also involved in the political issues of the day, especially those affecting African Americans. Meetings, church services, the segregated school, concerts, dinners and entertainment made the Abyssinian the center of political and social life throughout the 19th century.Martha E. Pinello, Principal Investigator for Monadnock Archaeological Consulting, LLC of Stoddard has over three decades of experience working on historic sites throughout New England. She served for many years as Chief Archaeologist at the Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, NH, and has special expertise in paleoethnobotany and landscape archaeology. Pinello joined the team restoring the Meeting House in 2006. This program is free and open to all!