Preserving African American Heritage on the Eastern Shore

{"version":"0.3.0","atoms":[],"cards":[],"markups":[["strong"]],"sections":[[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"African Americans are an integral part of the cultural heritage of the Eastern Shore. When the slave trade began in the 1640s, it did not slow down until the 1780s and did not finally end until the mid-nineteenth century. Though this region did not have many large slave-holding, agrarian based estates like the South, slavery did exist. However, unlike most other parts of the South, Maryland had a very strong community of free African Americans. The Eastern Shore in particular had more free blacks than most other slave-holding areas in the nation and by 1850, there were 279 recorded instances of people escaping slavery in Maryland, the most of any state in the nation."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Later, as the seafood industry became the economic backbone of the region, African Americans were an integral part of the workforce, particularly in the processing plants. Today, African Americans are prominent citizens of the Eastern Shore and can still be found as a driving force in the seafood, agricultural, education and tourism industries. Darius Johnson, Northeast Regional Director for the ACE Mentor Program of America, will explore African American heritage in the context of Kent County\u2019s cultural landscape. Johnson will share insights from his Homecoming project in which he has utilized community curation strategies to understand the architectural history of a countryside village in Kent County named Coleman--with 19th-century farmhouses, a historic church, and the Rosenwald School. Additionally, Johnson will share how community curation can be a valuable strategy to develop historical context for African American communities."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Chris Elcock AIA, IIDA, LEED AP, with GWWO, a Baltimore-based architectural firm, will explain GWWO\u2019s design for the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center, which was informed by the landscape and sites where Tubman lived and operated on the Underground Railroad. Since opening, the visitor center has welcomed over 215,000 visitors from all 50 states and over 60 countries along with over 150 school groups. The projects\u2019 design excellence has also been recognized by AIA Baltimore and AIA Chesapeake and the National Trust for Historic Preservation named the building and site one of their \u201c40 Under 40: The Next Generation of Historic Places\u201d."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Barton Ross AIA, AICP, LEED AP with Barton Ross \u0026 Partners, will introduce the restoration of the William Still Interpretive Center at the Caroline County 4-H Park in Denton. The project saved an original African American slave-quarters from demolition by physically relocating it, making the building accessible to visitors, and expertly preserving much of the original fabric. Visitors to the building can now authentically experience the earliest known physical link dedicated to the extraordinary life of William Still, a nationally prominent figure in the abolitionist movement. This site is also part of the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad (UGRR) Byway."]]],[1,"p",[]],[1,"p",[[0,[0,0],2,"Learning Objectives:"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"1. Participants will learn about African American history and architectural heritage in the context of black cultural landscape sites across Kent, Caroline, and Dorchester counties in Maryland and understand how a transformative approach to the reuse of historic sites and buildings enhances their value and lifespan."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"2. Participants will be able to understand how projects can utilize community curation strategies to understand how the concept of community curation can be a valuable strategy to develop historical context for African American communities. including its architecture, cultural landscape evolution, and planning efforts from Pre-Revolutionary times to the present."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"3. Participants will be able to understand and follow the United States Secretary of the Interior\u2019s Standards for Rehabilitation of Historic Properties which provides architectural guidance for new additions, exterior alterations, or related new construction by preserving historic materials that characterize the property."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"4. By the end of this session, participants will be able to employ the four related design strategies (historic sites, adaptive reuse, restoration, and renovation) to develop a meaningful approach to extending the useful life of historic buildings and develop analytical skills to evaluate which historic elements are worth saving and which are better suited for transformation."]]]]}