The ‘Back in the Day Block Party Par-Tay” celebrated the history of the Uptown Community in Chestertown on Saturday.
The celebration took place on the corner of College and Calvert Streets, the location of Charlie Grave’s Uptown Club which hosted some of the biggest names in music during the 1950s and 60s, including Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, B.B. King, Sam Cooke, and many others traveling the “Chitlin’ Circuit” during the pre-Civil Rights era.
The gala, sponsored by the Social Action Committee for Racial Justice and Washington College, hosted tables for local organizations and businesses—all to the beat of “Soulified Village” and other musical entertainment.
Washington College’s Chesapeake Heartland, an African American humanities project in partnership with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and local community organizations, showcased photographs of the Uptown Club, Charlie Graves, and other black entrepreneurs of the era.
Other organizations attending the event were RIM Recovery, Kent Cultural Alliance, Kent County Health Dept., and Rising Sons Mentoring Program.
This video is approximately six minutes in length.
Wanda Boyer says
SACRJ would like to THANK ALL that attended for making the event a success.
SPECIAL THANK YOU’S to WASHINGTON COLLEGE for the CONTRIBUTION for the BAND, COMMUNITY MEMBERS for allowing us to UTILIZE the ELECRTICITY for the BAND EQUIPMENT and MOON BOUNCE which was DONATED by a resident of KENT CO. When the awareness of NO FOOD TRUCKS were going to be present MEMBERS of JAMES CHURCH n MDA STEPPED UP N GOT ER DONE W/O hesitation. To MY COMMUNITY THANKS FOR ROLLING W A SISTA POLICING n CLEANING UP BEHIND OURSELVES.
OCT 9TH
BACK n THE
DAY BLOCK
PAR- TAY