Legacy of Slavery in Queen Anne's County, Maryland

My first public program with the Maryland State Archives (MSA) Legacy of Slavery in Maryland research project (LOSIM) went astoundingly well. Titled “Pistols and Petitions: Queen Anne’s Slave Self-Emancipation in the 19^th Century,” it explored two ways in which Eastern Shore slaves freed themselves by joining the Union forces or petitioning the courts. Although I represented LOSIM and the MSA at the Kunta Kinte Heritage Festival and the Four Rivers Heritage Area showcase late last year, this was the first time I could present original work to a public audience who attended just to see it. The program was initiated by my colleague Wesley Tanner Sparks who e-mailed many Eastern Shore county libraries in anticipation of interest during Black History Month. 

Like any celebration, secular or holy, Black History Month should not nor does it confine values or aspects of the past. Just as Easter is not the only time Christians comprehend the life and meaning of Christ, Black History Month serves as a reminder; the month accumulates efforts by historians, libraries, and non-profits, which serve as sign posts on a great American journey. It is easy to celebrate the well known or underknown persons—Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., Dr. Charles Drew, etc, but LOSIM wonderfully uses state records to expose the hundreds of individuals who contributed to the cultural landscape in subtle, unknowable ways.

My portion of the presentation (excerpt below) concerned interesting Queen Anne’s County freedom petitions. I asked librarian Kristin Bombard, an archives specialist from Simmons College, if she planned to take pictures. Since I wanted photographs to document our presentation for this blog and LOSIM’s media file on the MSA server, and I anticipated she would take pictures as a matter of course, this question was merely a set up for a request that she share the said pictures afterwards. She looked surprised by my question. “Oh, we don’t need to take pictures if you don’t want them.” Silly me! My gentle approach made her infer the opposite intent. “No,” I assured her, “I would love it if you took pictures. You could take video for all I care.” I talked about the blog and the terms of my fellowship with The HistoryMakers; it can never hurt to have too much good evidence.

Typical for local interest presentations, there were several prominent figures of Queen Anne’s County history including Mary Margaret Revell Goodwin. I chatted and joked with them for a bit, apparently warmed them up, then we dropped some knowledge on them. Kristin stood in the back and held the camera aloft. I was too into a groove to suspect that her still camera was able to record five minute snippets of video.

The presentation frequently paused as patrons asked very good questions or provided local history that enriched it. Mary Margaret Revell Goodwin explained that petitioner Henny Hemsley’s deponent Greenberry Griffin was a prominent merchant seaman who owned packets travelling from Kent Island to Baltimore and that Robert Moody’s owner Richard J. Jones was actually Richard Ireland Jones, the licensed owner of the ferry between Kent Island and Annapolis. The four mile long Chesapeake Bay Bridge literally eclipsed Jones’ launch point at Broad Creek on Kent Island when it was built in the 1950s.

Next time I will better mind repeating myself and restrain my excitement; in the full video I come across a tad condescending. 

Alex Champion--Maryland State Archives