Interview with a Researcher: Anca Wilkening

This interview marks the sixth in a new series where we meet with a user of the Moravian Archives to discuss their unique experience working with our collections in Bethlehem. In August 2024, we sat down with Anca Wilkening to discuss her Ph.D. research and collaboration with Indigenous knowledge-keepers.

Tom McCullough (TM): Anca Wilkening, welcome to our sixth Interview with a Researcher! I appreciate you joining us today. Before we get started, could you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you’re up to right now?

Anca Wilkening (AW): Thank you so much, Tom, and thank you for having me. I’m currently a Ph.D. student in the study of religion, focusing on early American religious history at Harvard, and I’m the middle of my dissertation writing. I’m kind of slowly, slowly transferring from a more archival-heavy stage towards writing chapters, or at least that’s what I tell my advisor. I’ve been working on American religious history and also with the Moravian Archives for about seven years or so. Besides that, I have two cats, and I like to go outside and forage.

TM: That’s really fascinating. The last two bits I did not know.

AW: Yes, the foraging part is really great. When you go through the Moravian Archives, and you find a lot about what they were eating and collecting while traveling, it’s really fun.

TM: Very cool. You mentioned the Moravian Archives several times, and I was wondering if you could tell us a little about your research journey at the Moravian Archives… what has your experience been using these collections?

AW: Yeah. How did I first learn about Moravians and the Moravian Archives? I actually grew up in Germany—I’m German—in a rather Pietist Lutheran community. So I think the first time—I never thought about this until recently—that I actually heard about Herrnhut or Moravians was when I was singing Zinzendorf hymns or using the Losungen (Daily Texts/Watchwords) in my own congregation. But I was not specifically aware of the Moravian Archives in Bethlehem until I took a class on Moravian History in the Atlantic World with Craig Atwood and Jennifer Adams-Maßmann when I was studying theology in Heidelberg. We read some primary sources, such as women’s memoirs, that I found really fascinating and very different from documents I had read for other church history classes. It really piqued my interest, so I started looking into archival sources myself. When I came to North America to do my master’s level research, I decided to come visit [the Moravian Archives in Bethlehem] and see what else is there, and since then I’ve been on this continuous journey of exploring stories and information that archives contain about religious practice, gender and sexuality, Indigenous culture…all of those things.

TM: Did you do your master’s level research at Harvard, as well?

AW: At Yale Divinity School, and I did a little bit of work there on Moravian archives. I wrote my thesis on Ephrata, a contemporary community, but I wrote a couple papers on early Moravian missionary conceptions of race in Indigenous communities, and things like that.

TM: Wow, that’s fascinating. In working with these sources, has there been a particular moment that stands out to you?

AW: Yeah, there are many that come to mind, but there are two that are exemplary for me, with my research and my work with Indigenous communities. There’s been a lot of work on the Gemeinnachrichten (“Congregational Accounts”) at this “community of letters” that Moravians were building in the Atlantic world, and I was aware of major Moravian hubs, especially Bethlehem, receiving news, and particularly from the missions. But when I started looking into this, I wasn’t really sure when I started looking into this about how much Indigenous people were part of these networks and especially not just as objects that are written about but rather as agents of their production. And then there is a set of letters and mentions in early diaries in the Indigenous mission archives [at the MAB] that really, really clearly show Mohican and Munsee Indigenous Moravians wrote or dictated some of these messages, carried those letters, and kind of plugged into this community of messaging in the Gemeinnachrichten as a means to uphold and grow in their own diplomatic networks. That was really interesting for me to see something that is so Moravian in the Gemeinnachrichten can have such a different and extended role when it comes to these Indigenous communities. And another that’s really nice—and you, Tom, helped me with this and were showing me some of these—when I was at the Archives last I was looking at these pictographic signatures or markings of Lenape and Mohican men in the eighteenth century that often depict turtle or turkey. For me, I was really thinking about how they could through that act of writing or marking this turtle that they practice their kinship systems, because they are asserting that they are still a member of their clan. They are a member of the community, you know, the Lamb (Christian) community, but they are also a member of the turkey and turtle community. And then I shared this with a Munsee community member and language-keeper from Ontario afterwards, and although she knew these types of marks existed in colonial documents, but she had not been aware or had never seen any from her community, her ancestors. So that was really beautiful to be part of this moment and see what these archives bear.

TM: That is very special. Could you say more about those pictographic symbols? Am I correct that they represent matrilineal groups?

AW: Yes, so that’s something that different communities are still trying to figure out, because when Moravians arrive, especially in the Northeast and Algonquian communities of Schaghticok, Mohican, and Munsee, there are often already refugees from the east called “Wampanoos” (eastern in Algonquian dialect) often, and some of them are matrilineal while others are patrilineal. And also, with colonialism, they adapt these systems. It’s something people are trying to figure out. There are Mohican communities that especially had been matrilineal, but I wouldn’t go so far to say that this is definitely the case for this community. One thing I told you, just looking at the Shekomeko diaries, what’s really interesting is that most often they’ll say “Bartholomew’s son” or “Abraham’s son,” and they are definitely patrilineal descriptions, but on other occasions they’ll say a woman’s name like “Leah’s daughter” or something like that. As I’m going through this research, I’m trying to figure out if they are doing that because they are adapting those matrilineal-patrilineal clan kin systems or if missionaries are redefining those systems, because they [the Moravians] more often have a patriarchal structure.

TM: Thank you for explaining this so well.

AW: Of course, the other part of this is that the turtle, for instance, is seen as a kin family member, as well, so there’s also a relationship to an ancestor that is understood to be part of the genesis of the community. There are various stories that are not mine to share, and I am also still learning more about how these things come to be, but it’s important to see that there are not just matrilineal and patrilineal relationships but also the continued relationship with the natural worlds and with those “other-than-human” kin, as we call them in the research world. And I’m trying to tease out—in the archives—how much they are and aren’t continued in these “Moravianized” Indigenous communities.

TM: You’ve told us a lot about your current research. Earlier, you mentioned some research on Moravians and race when you were studying at Yale. Could you tell us a little bit about papers or presentations that came out of this research? It could be research results in any form.

AW: Absolutely. I’m slowly moving into a publishing phase. I haven’t published anything with an official scholarly journal on the Moravians, but I am working towards that.

TM: Congratulations!

AW: Thank you. My dissertation looks at formations of kinship and intimate relationships in early Moravian North American religion and communities. I’m especially focused on white settlers and Munsee and Mohican communities. In the fall I’ll present on this at the American Academy of Religion in a panel on Indigenous Ecology, about tracing relations with other-than-human kin and land-based epistemologies in eighteenth-century Indigenous Moravian archives. I have also worked a lot on the history of Martha, who you first introduced me to, who is a Mohican woman in the eighteenth century, born in Shekomeko but then spent most of her life in the choir systems in Bethlehem and Lititz, but was also interned in Philadelphia for a couple of years; and so I presented this to the American Society of Church History and shared this with contemporary Indigenous nations who have ancestral connections to her, and I will submit this to a journal soon as what I would believe to be an unprecedented and unusually detailed biographical account of an Indigenous woman. We’re really not used to being able to trace this level of detail in the eighteenth century. You were asking me about race and this paper that I wrote about seven years ago, and I maybe will return to it at some point; on the one hand, I’ve looked at how race and religion co-constitute each other in Indigenous missions and how that differs or is the same in more Anglo-Protestant communities. And one of the things that other people have said before, but I’ve really looked at how notions of civilization and being civilized overlap with ideas of race and being religious. One of the things that keeps coming up is that early Moravian communities—it’s not that they didn’t expect Indigenous people to change their culture and not practice certain things—but they did not expect them, for example, to learn to read, and properly adhere to certain domestic and cultural practices in order to be civilized and ready to actually receive the Gospel. They’re already able to receive Jesus and be part of this “blood-and-wounds” community before any of those changes take place; so that’s a really interesting question if you’re talking about race and what co-constitutes being civilized and uncivilized. And I also looked a little bit at Polly Heckewelder, which I’m still looking at, about how nineteenth-century Moravians relate to whiteness and this construction of whiteness through the story of Polly being “the first white child born in Ohio.” And I basically traced that when she was born in Ohio, she wasn’t actually perceived by her parents or anyone there as such, and Ohio wasn’t even Ohio yet in the same way that we think about it today. But then later on, she’s kind of adopted by nineteenth-century Moravians who are part of this whiteness and colonial narrative of westward expansion. People who aren’t Moravian have a certain idea of white people having a longer tradition of being native to these lands before the establishment of the U.S. territory and later state.

TM: There’s also evidence that other Euroamerican children were born in Ohio before Polly, such as the missionary Rothe’s son, although it’s interesting that such a superlative became something to celebrate among Moravians.

AW: Yeah, I talk about that a little bit, and I think I can parse this out. There’s a reason why a young girl that can be depicted later on this really beautiful and innocent doll who is still alive in the community and can be interviewed is a more practical choice to be “the first white child born in Ohio” than someone who might not be able to be plugged into that kind of memory work. Yes, you’re absolutely right. And I was just at Gnadenhütten in Ohio for their annual day of remembrance for the massacre, and the little memorial for Rothe being the first white child born there is still there, so it’s still something that is part of how the community interprets the site.

TM: Speaking about communities, could you tell me a little bit about your work with Indigenous nations?

AW: Yes. I am working with Mohican and Munsee Indigenous nations in the U.S. and in Canada to explore how Moravian Archives can be useful in language and cultural revitalization efforts. For instance, the archives in Bethlehem and also other institutions contain Indigenous language materials that were recorded during the period of Moravian missions. My biggest collaborative project thus far was that earlier this year we were able to bring three Munsee knowledge-keepers from Ontario to Harvard, and together we read a collection of eighteenth and nineteenth-century Lenape manuscripts at Houghton [Library] that were used by Moravian missionaries. Fun side story: when the missions closed in Ohio, a Supreme Court judge from Ohio bought them, and he was a Harvard grad, so he somehow donated them to Harvard, and that’s how they ended up at Houghton. They were not only produced by Moravian missionaries who were learning the languages, but also their Indigenous teachers, so I really think of them as co-produced. We found a lot of exciting words and concepts that due to colonialism or residential schools had been suppressed or some degree lost. But one little exciting example is that we found the Munsee word for blueberry in this little book that had words and phrases for daily use, but Munsee knowledge-keepers had been looking for the word for blueberry for a long time.

Although it is useful to work with digitized materials, and the items at Houghton were digitized, it was ultimately easier to do this work together in the reading room at Houghton, because the community collaborators were much more knowledgeable about the Munsee language, and then I was able to help with the history and German script. And then also, for the Indigenous community members, this was a point of ancestral connection through the items; it was really important to be able to hold them and be present with them. Velma [last name] has just such a special, needed approach to connect with ancestral voices, and I think we might publish something around that and the physical archive and what it means for Indigenous communities. It’s important, because you are stewarding them and taking care of them.

TM: The collaborative work in the reading room that you’re describing reminds me a little of the National Breath of Life Institute that was designed to create situations where Indigenous people could access and utilize archival field notes and recordings related to linguistics. At the Society of American Archivists’ conference in Washington, D.C. a few years ago, I attended a panel about the project and its outcomes, how communities sent representatives to gather and process linguistic materials, and I was really moved by the project concept as a whole and some of the considerations that were made to better accommodate knowledge-keepers visiting reading rooms, especially in instances where materials might be evocative.

AW: Those are concerns that we also had at Houghton, so I convinced Houghton to give us a separate room with one of their archivists there. We had the entire collection there, and it did get very, very emotional at times. I think we would not have been able to do the work that we were doing if we would have been in a little glass box. So that was really special.

TM: It must have been special for you to be able to read the German script and then make it accessible for collaborators.

AW: Yes. I had to work really hard, because some of them were terrible scribbles that you probably would have been way better to look at than I, but it was definitely special being able to use my own native language and do this work, as well as to be part of this really interesting process of translating the German into English, trying to describe it not just literally but also what’s behind it, symbolism, and those things. And then going to the Munsee word and seeing if collaborators know this or recognize some of the roots and see what’s going on in the translation process, and using a third language—English—to do that. I think we came up with a really interesting method for translation on the go.

TM: Perhaps not everyone who plans to research the Moravians is aware that many materials will be handwritten in German. You’ve said a lot already, and I don’t want to keep you too long, but what do you wish others knew about Moravian Archives and history?

AW: I love that question. You know this and many who read this will already know this, but there is much more material than one probably thinks, and topics ranging in the material are much broader than one might think. I’ve rarely seen any early North American archives that compares in the level of meticulousness and also contains the mentions, stories, and perspectives of those who are usually invisabilized in those kinds of archives: women, children, Indigenous people, and other people of color, right? And also there is lots there in day-to-day life. Even if you’re not invested in strict Moravian history, whatever that is, I think there is so much there in the materials that is relevant. I recently shared some info from a manuscript with a colleague who is researching wampum practices in the Northeast, and I gave him an account with a detailed description of an exchange and the different types and colors of beads and strings that were used in a diplomatic exchange, and these were recorded in a folder on Indigenous missions. There is so much there like this, and I don’t think people are really expecting or knowing to necessarily look at a church archives for things like this, and I’d hope more people become aware of these sources. And also, more people take your German script transcription course and dig into those archives. The biggest hurdle still is learning the German script, but people being able to learn that at the Moravian Archives is great, and I think more and more people need to be aware of it. As someone who has taken your course and as a German native speaker, I barely know anyone as well acquainted with Early Modern German calligraphy as you and Paul.

TM: Thank you, and I thought you had taken the German Script Refresher Course we taught a few years ago.

AW: Yes, that’s the one!

TM: Very cool. When we started the interview, you mentioned being interested in foraging and collecting. Do you think there’s any potential there for using materials here at the Moravian Archives to pursue a topic along these lines?

AW: Yes! There is a lot, as you know, especially because early Moravians in North America were orienting themselves with a landscape that is both familiar and foreign in what they see, and so I think there are definitely references in diaries and other sources, but there’s also an interest in botany and plant collecting for Moravians in the eighteenth century. When I was at the Archives last, I picked up this book on Moravians and mushrooms by Ludwig David von Schweinitz. I’m doing a little bit of this in my dissertation, but I think want to dig deeper—if I ever get the chance—into how early Moravians were using and acquiring plant knowledge, and how this relates to their religious practices and view of the world. I know that the Moravian Historical Society has a pleasure gardens exhibit, which is something adjacent to that, and there seems to be these trends to explore, and I think the Moravian Archives has a lot of potential for further research.

TM: Thank you for coming on today, Anca!

AW: Thank you!

Enjoyed this conversation? Be sure to check out our previous interviews here: