OUR TEAM

Executive Directors

Dr. Kelley Fanto Deetz & Justin Fornal

Dr. Kelley Fanto Deetz is the Vice President of Collections and Public Engagement at Stratford Hall, and a Visiting Scholar in the Department of African American Studies at U.C. Berkeley. She holds a BA in Africana Studies and History from The College of William & Mary and an MA and Ph.D. in African Diaspora Studies from the University of California at Berkeley. She has consulted with National Geographic to produce the documentary film Rise Up: The Legacy of Nat Turner (National Geographic Channel), and wrote two cover stories for National Geographic’s History magazine. Deetz has also consulted with several historic sites, including Montpilier, Cliveden of the National Trust, and Virginia’s Executive Mansion, where she served in Governor Northam’s administration as the Director of Historical Interpretation and Education. She is the author of the critically acclaimed book Bound to the Fire: How Virginia’s Enslaved Cooks Helped Invent American Cuisine, which was named as one of the top ten books on food of 2017 by the Smithsonian Magazine. You can find her most recent work in Audible’s The Great Courses on the history of sugar, and her contribution to the forthcoming cookbook California Soul, with celebrity and OWN tv star Chef Tanya Holland and author Alice Walker.

Justin Fornal is an international explorer and award-winning writer. He has led expeditions around the globe and contributed his findings to publications such as National Geographic, the Explorers Journal, VICE, and Parts Unknown. Fornal currently hosts UNEXPLAINED & UNEXPLORED, a television series about ancient maps that airs on the Discovery and Science Channels. In 2016 he tracked down the lost skull of African American slave rebellion leader Nat Turner and repatriated it to the Turner descendants. The relic had been missing since 1831.