The Annual Legacy Day event sponsored by Sumner Hall will take place August 15-17 at Fountain Park in Chestertown. This year’s Legacy Day theme is Historic Black Communities (HBCs) of Kent County. The historic communities featured at Legacy Day will include Big Woods, Butlertown, Colemans, Edesville, Georgetown, Golts, Olivet Hill, Pomona, Sandfield, and Worton Point. These communities were identified as some of the earliest black communities founded in the 1800s and were anchored by a church and a school.
An exhibit featuring the HBCs of Kent County will be on display at the Historic Society of Kent County beginning August 1st and continuing throughout the month. Storyboards filled with photos and memories from all of the featured communities are featured in the exhibit.
Legacy Day will kick off on Friday with two events – a pre-opening public art performance at 6 pm at the Custom House, entitled Making Memory Move, sponsored by The Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience. The performance will combine dance, music, and “critical interpretation” to honor the lives of African American women whose names have been lost to history.
Friday’s second event will feature the Legacy Day Opening Reception , recognizing the communities and community members being honored. The event will be a Cabaret with live music and refreshments. The opening program will begin at 7 pm at the Garfield Theatre.
On Saturday morning, the activities will kick-off at 9:30 a.m. with “Blacks on the Chesapeake” Digital Display at the Sultana Holt Center on Cross Street. This Display is an immersive and moving presentation that lights up the floor—literally and figuratively—as it guides audiences through the rich and often untold stories of African American life and legacy on the Eastern Shore.
An African American Walking Tour of Downtown lead by staff from the Chesapeake Heartland will immediately follow“Blacks on the Chesapeake” and the tour will begin at Cross and Cannon Street. Attendees will take a walk through time and explore the streets and structures that once formed the heart of Chestertown’s Black community.
The Sultana Education Foundation will offer two opportunities, at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., for community members to join the crew of the 1768 schooner Sultana for a two-hour sail on the Chester River. Passengers are encouraged to help raise sail, steer using Sultana’s seven-foot tiller, and explore the authentically reproduced crew’s quarters below-decks.
At 1:30 pm, Legacy Day will move to High Street and open with a parade of historic cars in honor of the late Mary Fisher — the Mary Fisher Legacy on Wheels parade. For many years, Ms. Fisher was the key organizer for the Legacy Day parades. She was a highly regarded educator, coach and administrator in Kent County who passed away last year.
Following the parade, the Gospel Showcase will begin on the main stage at 2 pm featuring performances of songs, dance ministry, recitations, and readings by local and regional artists to celebrate the central role of gospel in Black history and culture.
The official Legacy Day dance party will begin at 4 pm. with DJ Turbulance. Community members will be asking “where your fans at” with “Boots on the Ground” and other line-dancing hits. “This year we are making a strong effort to involve youth in the Legacy Day events and are introducing a Youth Dance Contest,” notes Vanessa Ringgold, President of Sumner Hall. “By offering cash prizes, we hope to highlight their talents and reward them for stepping up as active participants,” she added. Those interested can sign up in advance by visiting the Sumner Halls website. Contestants can also join in at the time of the event.
Legacy Day will continue on Saturday with a celebrated evening of dancing in the street to the tunes of Comfort Zone, known for playing the classic R&B hits, at 5 pm. Food vendors, craft vendors and information stations will be on site throughout the day to provide nourishment and other “goodies”.
The Legacy Day weekend will conclude with a Champagne Brunch, sponsored by and hosted at Emmanuel Episcopal Church, located at 101 N. Cross Street. This year’s Brunch theme is Hidden Figures, a celebration of influential Black trailblazers in the history of Kent County. Reenactors will take the roles of such luminaries as Henry Highland Garnett, the namesake for Garnett School in Chestertown, and Richard Allen, founder of the African Methodist Church. Several other “hidden figures” will be portrayed as well.
All Legacy Day events are free and open to the public. Due to space limitations for some of the venues, reservations are recommended. For reservations and more information, visit the Sumner Hall website at Legacy Day – Sumner Hall.
For more information contact: [email protected]
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