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Project Details

Chesapeake Heartland is an African American humanities project dedicated to preserving, digitizing, interpreting, and making accessible thousands of materials related to African American history and culture on Maryland's Eastern Shore, the Delmarva Peninsula and beyond. In collaboration with the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington College’s Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, and a diverse array of locally-led organizations, Chesapeake Heartland seeks to build a model of grassroots preservation, curation, and interpretation for communities across the region.

Subjects or Themes

African Diaspora

Project Language(s)

English

Time Period

Geographic Location

Project Categories

Content Type

Oral Histories, 360° Photography, Manuscripts, Images, Video, 3D Artifacts, Sound, Blog Entries, Educational Resources, Mapping, Public Art

Target Audience(s)

Creators

Washington College’s Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience

Year(s)

2017-Present

Host Institution / Affiliation / Project Location

Washington College

Software Employed

  • Collective Access

Labor and Support

Chesapeake Heartland was founded on a shared-authority model that centers robust and evolving descendant participation at every level. We collaborate weekly with community volunteers and local memory keepers to digitize, curate, and interpret local Black histories. Our team unites public historians, preservationists, archivists, community organizers, tradition bearers, educators and 20–35 interns annually. Engagement takes many forms—oral-history sessions, academic courses and conferences, collaborations with local organizations, student partnerships, listening circles, public programs, and advisory consultations—rooted in care and reciprocity rather than extraction.

Project Cost

Partnerships, funding sources, or grant-funding acknowledgement

National Museum of African American History and Culture, U.S. Smithsonian Institution National Historical Publications and Records Commission, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration National Endowment for the Humanities Mellon Foundation Council of Independent Colleges American Council of Learned Societies Council on Library and Information Resources African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, National Trust for Historic Preservation Bartus Trew Providence Preservation Fund, National Trust for Historic Preservation Maryland Historical Trust Maryland 250 Commission Maryland Commission on African American History & Culture Maryland Heritage Areas Authority Maryland State Arts Council