Equity in History Summer Institute for Teachers (Charles County)

On August 2 at Piscataway Park in Prince George's County the Southern Maryland Equity in History Coalition held its third Summer Institute for Teachers on accessing the Diverse History of Southern Maryland website equityinhistory.org 

The morning was to highlight resources in the Charles County area of Southern Maryland.

Based on her experiences working in the area Dr. Julia King, professor of Anthropology at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, talked about the history of Black and Indigenous People in Southern Maryland and more specifically in Charles County.  Despite the handicap of not being able to use her PowerPoint presentation (no power on site until the end of her talk), Dr. King's talk was interesting and informative.

Next there was a condensed tour of the site that the Accokeek Foundation’s Educational Staff gives to school groups (4th-9th grades).  The tour started with talking about the Piscataway tie to the land and included demonstrations relating to the environment.

After the tour was a Mini-Expo of ten Cultural Organizations, mostly in Charles County.  CCASM had a table at the Mini-Expo.  We handed out Maryland Archaeology Month booklets "African Diaspora Archeology: A Collaboration with Descendants".  We also had an "activity" related to identifying Native American artifacts and contrasting that with the different types of historic ceramics.  We pointed out that with historic ceramics you need to know where the ceramic were found and research who might have lived there.

CCASM Table

The afternoon was dedicated to a hands-on session for using the website and learning how to integrate its resources into their lesson plans.  Teachers also learned how to get MSDE credit for this Institute.  This was the main purpose of the Institute.

 Thanks to Mary and Carol for representing CCASM at the Mini-Expo.

 

Southern Maryland Equity in History Coalition New Website Launch

On May 1 the Southern Maryland Equity in History Coalition launched its new website at an event held in the Nancy R.  & Norton T. Dodge Performing Arts Center at St Mary's College of Maryland. 

website -  equityinhistory.org

The event was titled "Accessing the Diverse History of Southern Maryland".   Twenty-one of the thirty organizations supporting the Coalition had display tables at the event where pamphlets, brochures, maps, and other items were handed out.  CCASM was there.  Other Charles County organizations at the event were the African American Heritage Society of Charles County and the Historic McConchie School.  People could visit the various tables prior to and after the main event in the auditorium.

CCASM Display and Activity

The speakers prior to the keynote address included Dr. Tuajuanda C. Jordan, St. Mary’s College of Maryland President,  Frances Gray, Tribal Chairman of the Piscataway Conoy Tribe, and Lucille Walker, Executive Director of the Southern Maryland Heritage Area.  The keynote speaker Melisande Short-Columb gave an outstanding talk.  A native of Louisiana, Melisande is a descendant of slaves sold by the Jesuits of Georgetown University in 1838.  Melisande has been a guest undergraduate student at Georgetown University.  She gave a unifying message in her beautiful speech. The messages from all of the speakers were that knowledge of Southern Maryland History can help to reduce racism and to understand and address the causes of racism. 

Next most of us got to see the new website for the first time.  While the new website’s primary audience is expected to be students and teachers, anyone can make use of this engaging website and learn from it.  It has been designed for ease of searchability.  The subject matter is oriented toward Black, Indigenous, and other people of Color from Southern Maryland. This is only the beginning.  Input and interaction from all of us is desired by the website creators. Those who can contribute stories, photos, and other information are encouraged to help enlarge the information available on the website.  Currently there are stories for 76 people and 37 places to experience.

On the website equityinhistory.org Resources, Places to Experience, People, and Organizations are searchable by Keyword, County, Time Period, Theme, Audience, and Type with pulldown menus.  If you go to Notable People, you can find photos and stories of Charles Countians William A. Digges, Mary Louise Booth Webb, Josiah Henson, and Serenity Plantation burials of Abraham and Moses. The highlighted list of notable people will change from time-to-time on a rotating basis. 

The mission of the Southern Maryland Equity in History Coalition is to connect and empower community-based organizations, and educational and public institutions throughout Southern Maryland to elevate access to the collective and multi-perspective history of the region. For more about the Coalition - https://calvertlibrary.info/research-learn/southern-maryland-equity-in-history-coalition/

Currently the Charles County supporters of the Coalition include the African American Heritage Society of Charles County, the Charles County Archaeological Society of Maryland, the Historic McConchie School, The Historical Society of Charles County, the College of Southern Maryland, Charles County Public Schools, Charles County Libraries, the Charles County Department of Recreation, Parks, and Tourism.

Thanks to Ned for his summary, much of which is in this post.
Thanks to Peggy and Carol for traveling to St Mary's City so CCASM could have a table at the event.