With the unveiling of a new African American History Trail on the grounds of the Iron Hill Museum and Science Center in Newark, visitors will have the opportunity to learn more about the 1923 schoolhouse that houses the museum and the unique story of the free Black community that formed on Iron Hill in the 1830s. The trail – along with a new Monarch butterfly waystation and a project that removed invasive plants from the grounds to help clear the way for them – was funded by a Community Environmental Project Fund(CEPF) grant from the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.
“The CEPF grant program was created to support community environmental restoration projects. This project encompasses a broad spectrum of DNREC’s mission, from historical and cultural education and environmental justice to natural habitat restoration, invasive plant removal and supporting the life cycle of Monarch butterflies,” said DNREC Secretary Shawn M. Garvin. “Today, we also recognized Eagle Scout Cameron Mills, the volunteer who built and installed the trail’s sign posts. DNREC is proud to support and be part of the Iron Hill Museum’s important work.
“The African American History Trail allows the Iron Hill Museum to broaden its interpretation of the schoolhouse by including the under-recognized history of an independent, long-standing free African American community of landowners on Iron Hill, placing it into the context of a society in which free and enslaved Blacks co-existed before the Civil War. The families remained strong through the post-war periods of reconstruction and the era of segregation, where every-day struggles for economic and educational justice was supported by community church, and family,” said Debbie Keese, museum board member and researcher. “It is hoped that today’s families visiting the site will be able to make comparisons between and present-day politics, social norms, family structures, and educational practices while inspiring thoughtful discourse about issues of equity and justice, both social and environmental, in a safe, comfortable, and beautiful space.”
The Delaware Academy of Science was established in 1968 with the purpose of promoting science in the First State, Iron Hill Museum and to support their work established the Iron Hill Museum in the former Iron Hill School 112C, one of 87 schools built throughout the state by Pierre S. du Pont to educate Black children in the 1920s. Today its mission continues to promote and preserve scientific education including natural history, archaeology and anthropology of the area, technology, service, museum collections, programs, and community collaborations. A science center was added in 2016, with the schoolhouse now focused on the Black school experience and history of the area and the people who lived there, including Native Americans, free and enslaved African Americans, miners and farm laborers. The museum received a prior CEPF grant for a Pollinator Garden and Education Project.
The Community Environmental Project Fund was created by the Delaware General Assembly in 2004 to provide funds to support environmental restoration projects in communities that were damaged by environmental pollution. The legislation authorizes DNREC to establish a grant fund by withholding 25% of funds collected as penalties for violations of environmental regulations. These funds are returned to the communities where the violations occurred as competitive grants to nonprofit organizations to support community environmental projects. Eligible community environmental projects are pollution mitigation, environmental enhancement recreational opportunities. More information about the program can be found on the DNREC website at de.gov/cepf.
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