Trail of Souls

The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland has spent decades reckoning with its role in the history of American slavery. The Trail of Souls is the visual expression of that reckoning—a traveling exhibition tracing nearly 400 years of history, from Maryland's colonial origins through the diocese's ongoing commitment to racial justice and reparations.

The exhibition was designed to do more than document. At its core, it was a call to action: in May 2022, just weeks before the 80th General Convention of The Episcopal Church opened in Baltimore, the diocese distributed its first $175,000 in reparations grants from a $1 million seed fund created to return resources to Black communities across Maryland. The exhibition gave that commitment a face, a history, and a moral through line.

Installed in the central hallway of the Baltimore Convention Center, the exhibition spanned multiple large-format panels arranged as a continuous timeline from 1634 to the present day. The deep red palette and period Maryland maps running throughout the background ground the work geographically and emotionally, giving the timeline a sense of place as much as time.

The design challenge was considerable. Historical photographs, portraits, architectural drawings, and primary source documents had to be integrated across a sweeping chronological arc without losing legibility or visual coherence. Where original documents were unavailable, period-appropriate typography was used to reconstruct them, giving visitors the visual texture of the era rather than a modern approximation of it.

The exhibition debuted under difficult circumstances. Originally planned for 2021, the General Convention was postponed and significantly restricted due to COVID-19, limiting the audience that was able to experience the installation in person. The work, however, speaks for itself.