CHESTERTOWN — The Legacy Day Committee continues to bring to light what has been hidden in plain sight: the rich cultural heritage of Kent County’s African American communities.
This year’s festival, which ran from Friday night, Aug. 16 to Sunday afternoon, Aug. 18, put the spotlight on local Black fraternal and community service organizations. Special add-ons included a separate exhibit on the Black debutantes of Kent County and a champagne brunch featuring local Black authors.
This was the 11th edition of Legacy Day, which is produced annually by Sumner Hall in cooperation with the Historical Society of Kent County.
“African American history is Kent County’s history,” Nivek Johnson, the Legacy Day Committee chairman, told The Evening Enterprise in an interview during the authors event.
All events throughout the three-day festival were well-attended, according to Johnson.
“This weekend was a good weekend,” despite the forecast of iffy weather, he said.
Festival-goers are still talking about the exhibit titled “Pride Without Prejudice: The Debutantes of Kent County.”
Vanessa Isaacs Ringgold, a 1971 debutante, took the lead in putting the exhibit together, with sponsorship and support of Sumner Hall and Chesapeake Heartland: An African American Humanities Project.
“I poured my heart and soul into bringing this exhibit to life,” Ringgold told those who attended the exhibit’s opening on Aug. 16 to kick off Legacy Day 2024.
Selection as a debutante to represent the Elks’ Bay City Lodge No. 1490 and Star Temple No. 1141 was a privilege bestowed upon outstanding young women during their senior year of high school, beginning in 1964 when schools in Kent County were still segregated.
Criteria for becoming a debutante were not based on America’s standard definition of beauty, although all of the debutantes were indeed beautiful, according to one of the exhibit’s panels.
Instead, the selection focused on the academic achievement and community services that these young women contributed to their communities and the world around them.
Ringgold said she chose the title “Pride Without Prejudice” because “you weren’t judged. You were there to represent your community, your organization, your parents. … We didn’t have to deal with any prejudice. We were all there as one.”
Many of the local Black debutantes went on to college and to have prestigious careers, “representing Kent County in significant ways,” Ringgold said in her welcome.
Ringgold read aloud the names of those who had passed away, and then asked debutantes in the audience to join her on the stage for a group photo.
The exhibit will remain up through the end of September.
The fully restored Sumner Hall, one of only two African American Grand Army of the Republic buildings still standing in the United States, is located at 206 South Queen St. in downtown Chestertown. It is open to the public every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and through the month of October on Sundays from 1 to 3 p.m.
Special arrangements to visit the museum at other times may be requested by phone (410-708-3321) or email (info@sumnerhall.org).
Every seat was filled and the crowd spilled out into the narrow hallway of the second-floor meeting room of Sumner Hall for the opening of the debutantes exhibit and the program that followed honoring fraternal and other service organizations that played a vital role in fostering strength and solidarity within Kent County’s African American community.
“These organizations have been at the forefront of nurturing cultural pride and identity, providing essential services to those in need, and advocating for social justice,” the Legacy Day booklet states.
The tradition of organized service blossomed in the years following Emancipation. At least a dozen mutual aid societies — comparable to later fraternal organizations — were founded between 1868 and 1906. The mid-20th century saw the founding of affiliates of well-known state and national organizations, while others are specific to Kent County.
“All aimed to pool the limited resources of a stressed community to help those most in need,” the booklet, authored by Bill Leary, states.
Three major fraternal organizations in Kent were affiliated with a national and state organization, had an associated women’s organization, and held meetings and other activities at their own lodge: Thomas H. Kiah Lodge. No. 101, Free and Accepted Masons of Maryland, Prince Hall Affiliation, whose women’s auxiliary is Sarah E. Travers Chapter No. 50, Order of the Eastern Star; Bay City Lodge No. 1490 of the Elks, whose women’s auxiliary was Star Temple No. 1141; and the Knights of Pythias, Mt. Peasant Lodge No. 5, whose women’s auxiliary was Rosebud Court No. 36.
African American military veterans founded chapters of two national organizations: Sumner Hall Post No. 25, Grand Army of the Republic and Parker White Post No. 143 of the American Legion.
The local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is affiliated with the nation’s largest civil rights organization founded in 1909.
Locally founded organizations include the Kent & Queen Anne’s Hospital Auxiliary Unit No. 2, the Garnet Alumni Association and two organizations founded recently to improve youth opportunities, the Bayside HOYAS (Helping Our Youth Achieve Success) and Minary’s Dream Alliance.
In addition to their charitable work and fellowship, these organizations provide opportunities for leadership.
Also honored individually were Melvin Shorter Jr. and the late Ruth Ringgold Briscoe and Lucille Warren.
Shorter, a 40-year Mason described as “the embodiment of volunteerism and community service,” attended the Aug. 16 program, as did Ruth Briscoe’s daughter Marjorie Chappel of Smyrna, Delaware.
Shorter and representatives of many of the honored organizations were called up to the stage for recognition.
Bill Leary, the longtime curator of the Legacy Day exhibits, said the “overarching impact of segregation” is what stood out about this year’s program.
Despite the “stupid, nasty reality of segregation, these organizations and their members persevered and did marvelous work in support of their communities,” Leary said in remarks on Aug. 16.
He added, “Despite very different purposes, one characteristic they shared was a commitment to advancing social and racial justice.”
Leary spent about a year working on Legacy Day 2024, beginning last September when the theme of honoring fraternal and community service organizations was developed. He said he gathered much of his information from people who were active in the organizations and from the Chesapeake Heartland website.
As part of the opening night program, Legacy Day Committee Chairman Nivek Johnson and Ruth Shoge, president of the Sumner Hall board of directors, greeted the audience.
“These well-attended events are a testament to the contributions of African Americans to Kent County,” Shoge said.
Looking out into the standing room only-crowd, Johnson said, “We see a community that is beautiful, we see a community that is united, full of love, full of peace and full of hope.”
Saturday’s activities included sails aboard the Schooner Sultana, a gospel concert featuring the Mt. Olive Praise Team at Janes United Methodist Church, the Legacy Day parade of vehicles down High Street and a dance party with Best Kept Soul and DJ Turbulence in the 200-block of High Street.
The culminating event was a celebration of local Black authors on Sunday at Emmanuel Episcopal Church. The Bookplate, an independent bookstore in downtown Chestertown, partnered with the Legacy Day Committee to celebrate 15 authors. The focus was on the work and achievements of local African Americans.
A free champagne brunch, prepared by Emmanuel Church parishioners, preceded the program, which included some of the authors reading their poetry and prose, and talking about their personal journeys.
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The Legacy Day exhibit honoring local Black fraternal and community service organizations opened Aug. 2 at the historical society’s Bordley History Center as part of downtown Chestertown’s monthly observance of First Friday.
The exhibit at the Bordley History Center (301 High St.) will remain up until the end of the month. It is open for public viewing from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays and from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays.
Coming soon, The Evening Enterprise will publish photos and interviews about the “Pride Without Prejudice: The Debutantes of Kent County” exhibit.
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The inaugural Legacy Day was held in August 2014. The honoree was business owner Charlie Graves (1919-1990) and his Uptown Club in Chestertown, a stop on the Chitlin Circuit that featured stars as bright as Etta James, James Brown, B.B. King, Fats Domino, Little Richard, Otis Redding, Ray Charles and Patti LaBelle.
Since then, African American churches, educators, musicians, athletes and coaches, and military veterans have been recognized.
Local partners make it possible to offer Legacy Day at no cost to the public. They include The Bookplate, the Chesapeake Heartland project at The Starr Center at Washington College, Chestertown RiverArts and KidSPOT, Chesapeake College, Downtown Chestertown Association, Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Garfield Center for the Arts, the Hedgelawn Foundation, Janes United Methodist Church, Kent County Economic Development Office, Kent Cultural Alliance, Minary’s Dream Alliance, Evan W. Smith Funeral Services and the Town of Chestertown, as well as individual and organizational sponsors.
