Dear Friends and Chesapeake Heartland Partners,
The Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience announces the launch of the Chesapeake Heartland Digital Archive:
https://archive.chesapeakeheartland.org
A collaboration between the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington College, Sumner Hall, Kent Cultural Alliance, and Kent County Public Library, Chesapeake Heartland aims to digitize, interpret, and make accessible materials related to African American history and culture in Kent County, Maryland and beyond.
In this innovative and interactive public archive, you’ll find historic documents, home movies, oral histories, and family photographs depicting African Americans in Kent County from their own personal perspectives – a vantage point rarely preserved in institutional archives. In collaboration with community partners, Washington College faculty, staff, and students have worked tirelessly to provide us with these distinctive windows into our past.
Perhaps the most exciting aspect of this archive is that it is far from finished and will continue to grow in size and scope. We are available anytime if you would like to learn more about its content and features — or if you have materials of your own to add to the collection.
With Pride & Gratitude,
The Chesapeake Heartland Team
