Rebekah Coffman

Rebekah Coffman is a curator and public historian whose work explores the intersections of religious heritage, the built environment, sustainability, and collective memory. As Curator of Religion and Community History at the Chicago History Museum, she leads the Chicago Sacred Initiative, which brings together archival repair, research, writing, community engagement, and exhibition-making to highlight Chicago’s diverse religious and cultural histories. In 2019, she founded the Sacred Shift Project, an ongoing international survey of urban religious buildings adapted for ritual reuse by diasporic communities, with attention to intangible heritage and contested heritage amidst the changing lives of sacred spaces across cities. Rebekah also lectures in Heritage Studies and serves on leadership for the AIA National Interfaith Design Knowledge Community.