CHESTERTOWN — “Hidden Figures,” a tribute to local Black trailblazers, was the theme of a champagne brunch sponsored and hosted by Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Chestertown on Sunday, Aug. 17 as the culminating activity of the 12th annual Legacy Day.
The event has expanded over the years into a multi-day festival that celebrates the rich cultural heritage of Kent County’s African American community.
On Sunday, reenactors took on the roles of such luminaries as Henry Highland Garnet, the namesake of H.H. Garnet Elementary School in Chestertown; Emma Grason Miller, Kent County’s first Black supervisor of colored schools; Harriet Shepherd, who escaped from slavery along with 10 others by taking her master’s carriages and four horses; and Richard Allen, founder of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church.
Pictured from right to left as the “Hidden Figures” skit is about to start are: Richard Thomas as educator and pastor Peter Spencer (1782-1843); Charles Johnson as prominent businessman Thomas Cuff (1785-1858); Mark Perkins as business owner William Perkins (1820-1895); James White as Isaac Mason, whose autobiography details his 1846 escape from enslavement in Chestertown, how he found freedom across the Pennsylvania border and his rise to become a distinguished American leader; Jerome McKinney as Henry Highland Garnet (1815-1882); and Samuel Ringgold as abolitionist, pastor and orator Samuel Ringgold Ward (1817-1866).
Look for more photographs and a full report on the 2025 Legacy Day celebration in a future edition of The Evening Enterprise.
— Photo by Trish McGee
