The Chestertown Spy

Editorial: Chestertown and Fireworks

September 30, 2019 by The Chestertown Spy 5 Comments

This past Fourth of July was the quietest in recent memory. By the morning of the Fifth of July, it was apparent to town elected officials and community leaders were sensing regret that a long tradition came to an end so unceremoniously.

To be fair, the Council had voted in 2018 to end public funding of fireworks for 2019 and future years. That decision went unnoticed or unappreciated or maybe the public felt that the vote to eliminate the funding from the town budget was hollow.

It wasn’t a hollow gesture. As The Chestertown Spy has noted in the past: Chestertown has a revenue problem. The Chestertown Fireworks tradition is another victim as the Council attempts to cut its way out of the problem. It was a sad moment when the Town of Chestertown Council voted to end public funding of this annual tradition, but the $7,500 that it costs to put on the show was needed someplace else in the municipality’s growing list of underfunded priorities.

The Chestertown Spy regrets this decision on several fronts. The first is the simple fact that every town should have fireworks on the 4th of July weekend, particularly those over 300 years old. Enough said.

The second is that fireworks are so much a part of Chestertown’s history. While the Kent Historical Society continues to research fireworks in Kent County, we already know it has been a vibrant culture in academic scholarship and manufacturing dominance of this uniquely American symbol of freedom and expression. It was also the incubator for international pyrotechnique safety improvements.

And, more recently, the upcoming dedication of Radiant Echo at Washington College in October, which could turn out to be one the Eastern Shore’s most extraordinary public art projects, is not only a 500,000 light sculpture to celebrate the chemical reactions as art but also a fitting tribute to one of fireworks greatest heroes, WC’s former president and chemistry chair, Joseph McLain.

Even now, WC’s John Conkling, one of fireworks legendary scholars in its technology, still calls Chestertown home.

This town needs to embrace this heritage, not cuts its budget. But that is all history now.

It is a tribute to Chestertown’s great tradition of local people and local institutions, who have answered the call to solve this current challenge. A group of fireworks advocates has come together in recent months to not only to promptly raise the funds for 2020 but also develop plans to seize on this unique heritage and celebrate it throughout the year.

The truth is that fireworks are more than the display of chemical combustion. The act of seeing and hearing fireworks has included writers and composers alike. From Handel’s Suite to Fireworks to author George Plimpton’s phenomenon treatment of its history, it has captured the imagination in almost every conceivable part of our culture.

In the months ahead, the Chestertown Fireworks Fund, made up of volunteers from Main Street Chestertown, Washington College, the Kent Historical Society, and yes, we are proud to say, the Chestertown Spy, will be working on long term plans to ensure that Chestertown design becomes the fireworks capital of the world. The Fund will be sending out more information in the next few weeks about how to donate and volunteer.

In the meantime, we do have the immediate challenge of ensuring our 2020 July 4th weekend is locked down and funded. The Spy will be donating advertising so that our readers can donate directly to its cost and we hope our fellow citizens will give generously.

New Publisher Notes: The Chestertown Spy Moving Forward

September 25, 2019 by The Chestertown Spy

It was a real honor to be asked by Dave Wheelan and the Spy‘s executive board to take on the role of publisher of the Chestertown Spy. I appreciate their confidence. As a Spy advisor providing institutional knowledge and legal counsel over the past decade, I have enjoyed my involvement with the publication immensely.

Spy Community Media, as we are now known, is growing. The Chestertown Spy is now celebrating its tenth year, and the Talbot Spy is just a few years old and building a strong following. As Dave and I talked about the future of the Spy over the early summer, it was clear that Dave sought out a Chestertown Spy publisher who had an insight into local government, commerce, and politics to help bolster news and public affairs reporting, while continuing to grow the successful arts and culture coverage.

Both Dave and I also recognized that local community newspapers across the country are folding, unable to make the transformation to the online news reality. Dave was seeking a collaborator who shared his vision of building the Spy operation into a sustainable, replicable platform for delivering the Spy‘s Pillars of coverage: local public affairs, arts, and culture coverage.

“Ink” in the Blood

Most people drawn to the news business are born with “ink” in the blood, an itch from birth to ask one too many questions or touch on taboo subjects at the dinner table. Then comes the desire to convert your ideas to words on paper for others to appreciate. I collaborated in the publication of my first newspaper in fourth grade at St Stephen’s School in Alexandria, where by graduation I had worked in almost every aspect of publishing: writing, photography, layout, and ad sales.

Upon arriving at Washington College during the Douglass Cater years, I found an environment ripe for political and news media. While still an undergraduate, I started my first local publication, The Shoreman’s Advocate, and reported for the Kent County News, before concluding Kent County was a news reading place and the more news outlets, the better.

Dave Wheelan was a member of the Cater Administration and encouraged me to launch the The Pilot, a local weekly newspaper, in 1986 if only to get me out of the Administration’s hair. I spent the next two years learning the art of the scoop and forever cementing my love for Chestertown and Kent County.

Fun was had by all in those years, but finally, The Pilot folded in the summer of 1988 and, after a brief stint editing a national financial publication, I headed off to law school. After a post-graduation year clerking for the late Honorable Robert L. Karwacki, Jr., Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals of Maryland, I returned to Chestertown to practice law.

Bullish on Chestertown and Kent County

Over the past 35 years, I have invested time and energy in our community, serving on the boards of the Kent County United Way, Crossroads Community, Inc., Corsica River Mental Health Services, Inc., and the Kent County Bar Association. I am an active member of the Daily Record’s Attorneys’ Editorial Advisory Board and regular contributor to the board’s editorial collaborations. I have been active in political campaigns, having played leadership roles working for candidates as diverse as Ellen Sauerbrey, Martin O’Malley, Frank Kratovil, and Arthur Hock.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am a principal in the Imperial Hotel building, Talbot Road, LLC, which is developing the Radcliffe Center multi-family project on Talbot Boulevard, and Hippocratic Growth, LLC, the medical cannabis company that operates Ash+Ember dispensary in Centreville. I mention these because you will read about these businesses from time to time, and I want to be transparent about my role. Just as important, I want Chestertown Spy readers and sponsors to know that I am committed to Chestertown and Kent County.

Expectations for Publisher and Public

The daily news aspect of the Spy format is really exciting. It’s your local daily online newspaper delivered to you every day at 3 p.m. via email. The Chestertown Spy‘s writing staff, Dan Menefee, Peter Heck, Jane Jewell, Jamie Kirkpatrick, Nancy Mugele, Jenn Martella, and our arts and culture editor Val Cavalera are committed to providing high quality public affairs, arts, and culture content. Since we began our collaboration in July, the Chestertown Spy team has gotten a new rhythm which will only improve over time.

As Dave discussed in his Publisher’s Note yesterday, we are the very beginning of a process that will give us much better understanding of the community’s needs. I look forward to sharing those findings as we complete the process in January 2020.

Please share your support for the Spy by telling a friend about the Spy Daily News Blast and making a donation to support Spy operations here. Please contact me about becoming a Spy corporate sponsor.

Thanks for your continued support and seeing you on the Streets of Chestertown.

Steve Meehan
Publisher and Editor

Publisher’s Notes: A Country Road in Quaker Neck and the Future of the Spy

September 24, 2019 by The Chestertown Spy

While it makes sense to start this note about Chestertown Spy’s future by recalling a story from when the first began in 2009, I’d like to go back four decades ago.

It is 1979, and I am living off-campus just off of Johnsontown Road in Quaker Neck. It it winter, and I am renting a cottage at Rigs o’Marlow, which some may know is where Chestertown’s beloved Mike Lawrence lived for many years.

I was leaving to make a class on a morning after a major snowstorm, and as luck would have it, my car broke down. I was left with the only one option — to hitchhike on a country road where the traffic flow was about one car an hour.

And yet, within minutes, a station wagon appeared out of nowhere with a fellow named Gil Watson II at the wheel.

I had no idea who Gil Watson was, nor the fact that he and his wife owned the large property just over from my small place. But in the ten minutes it took to drive into Chestertown, this stranger would change my life.

After a pro forma description of my circumstances that morning, we inevitably touched on where we had come from to arrive at this very isolated part of the Eastern Shore.

In Gil’s case, he had retired early from a career in government to raise his family in the simple life of rural Kent County. But the motive, he said, was also to start a small-town newspaper called the Chester River Press.

It was then my turn, and I started out chronologically with the fact I had been born and raised in Winnetka, Illinois. And with the mention of “Winnetka,” we found ourselves enjoying an extreme irony that we had grown up in the same town.

As we dug deeper, it turned out the Watsons and my mother’s family were part of a small tribe of large families living next to each other in Winnetka for three decades. In Gil’s case, my uncles had been his closest childhood friends. All of a sudden, six degrees of separation turned into one.

When I exited the car in front of WC’s campus lawn, we humorously shook our heads in disbelief and agreed it had been quite a ride.

I only saw Gil one more time after our Johnsontown trip. He asked his wife to seek me out for a visit the following spring when I learned he had terminal cancer. By October of that year, he had passed away at 62 years old.

There were many takeaways from this brief encounter. The first was the unmistakable joy Gil Watson had when talking about being a publisher of a small-town newspaper. He clearly was also aware of its real purpose when he added to its masthead, “Truth is your right and our obligation.”

The second takeaway was to listen to someone with a surprisingly similar background as my own, who had created a second life for himself and devoted that life to giving back to the community he had come to love.

Fast-forward to October 2008, some thirty years later, when I was pondering the usefulness of my own life after a project I was working on at UC-Berkeley had blown up in the great recession.

The choice for me was to either find another job in the same profession or, like Gil, come back to the Eastern Shore, where I already had bought a second home a few years earlier, and give back to the Chestertown I had known and loved since I arrived as a freshman at Washington College.

It was simple. On March 15, 2009, the Chestertown Spy appeared online for the first time, and its publisher dedicated it to Gilbert L. Watson II’s memory.

Ten years later, I think Gil would have been pleased with how it all turned out. While he was not around for a final judgment, his son, Gil Jr, who had also moved back to Chestertown after a distinguished career as the metro editor of the Baltimore Sun, confirmed that his father would have been delighted with the Chestertown Spy.

I also believe that Gil would be pleased with my plans for the Chestertown Spy for the next ten years.

After five years as serving as the executive editor of both the Chestertown Spy and the Talbot Spy, I concluded this summer that the duality of managing two publications in two different towns was 1) unsustainable for one person, and 2), poorly serving the communities the Spy was committed to serve.

I realized it was time to let go of the Chestertown Spy.

Even though I always saw the Spy as a permanent gift to the community, the reality was that if a proverbial bus ran me over in front of WC’s Starr Center, the Chestertown Spy would quickly dissolve.

In short, I was hoarding the Spy. Rather than building a structure that could survive sans Wheelan, I continued to hold on to it, even five years after I had established a residence in Easton to start the Talbot Spy.

And so the epiphany this summer was that if I was seriously interested in having the Chestertown Spy become a long-term community asset, things had to change.

With that in mind, I have started a four-month process to restructure the Chestertown Spy. This includes transferring editorial control to a Chestertown-based publisher and the development of a twelve-member advisory board who collectively is devoted to the Spy’s mission of covering the public affairs, the arts, and regional culture of the greater Chestertown community.

I hope, with the community’s assistance, the refreshed Spy will truly mirror the depth and the profound sense of place of its readers.

I also have the conviction that the new Chestertown Spy will stand out as a remarkable model for other communities, many of whom are suffering the loss of their local newspapers.

To answer this need, I have created the non-profit Spy Community Media, the parent organization for the Chestertown Spy and Talbot Spy, as well as other possible Spies in the future. It will be the SCM’s purpose to use the Chestertown model to train, technically and financially support, as well aas mentor other communities on the Eastern Shore and beyond.

I am pleased to say that our plans for the restructured Spy are already taking place with the appointment of Chestertown attorney Stephen Meehan as the publisher of the Chestertown Spy.

Steve has lived and worked in Chestertown for 35 years and created The Pilot, a weekly newspaper he started in 1986 while at Washington College. And I join the newly established Spy Community Media’s board of advisors in affirming our complete trust in his commitment to the Chestertown Spy’s mission.

Over the next few months, Steve will be reaching out to the community through the use of professionally-facilitated focus sessions, one-on-one meetings, and reader polling to define not only what the Spy covers in the arts, culture and public affairs, but also how it covers it.

This feedback will also provide invaluable information for Steve and his local advisory board on how to use the Spy as a constructive, non-toxic portal for different points of view and opinion.

And while I am “letting go” of the Chestertown Spy, this change does not mean I am letting go of Chestertown. I will continue as both a regular contributor but be active in my new role of being the SCM’s representative on its advisory board.

Just like Chestertown’s other “country editors” like Gil Watson, Hurtt Deringer, and Bill Chaze, there is an unmistakable sense of gratitude for this role of looking over this very special place. I have no doubt that I’ll have similar experiences as the Chestertown Spy model becomes a possible blueprint for the future of local news.

Please help the Chestertown Spy succeed in this effort by contributing to its future here.

Steve will continue tomorrow with his first Chestertown Spy “Publisher Notes” to talk more about its future going forward.

Editorial: Mass Shootings, Mental Health Stigma, and Flags

August 5, 2019 by The Chestertown Spy 1 Comment

This started as a piece about flags, free speech and our community’s ability to rise above the divisive.

Then came the Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting, which likely prompted more than a few safety check texts to West Coast family and friends. Saturday brought news of the shooting of 20 persons and maiming of many more at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas. We woke on Sunday to hear of the early morning shooting of nine persons at a Dayton, Ohio nightspot.

We moved on from flags. We want to remind all of our readers that mass shootings should not fuel stigma about mental illness. And the power to prevent these tragedies starts with family, friends, co-workers and neighbors. See something, say something, and follow up.

This is confirmed in a well-time piece published in the Los Angeles Times by criminologists Jillian Peterson and James Densley of the Violence Project who summarized their conclusions and recommendations having completed an analysis of U.S. mass shooter data since 1966 funded by the National Institute of Justice. Read their entire piece here.

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2019-08-04/el-paso-dayton-gilroy-mass-shooters-data
Peterson and Densley identified common traits among most mass shooters studied: exposed to trauma and violence as a child; experienced an identifiable life crisis leading up to shooting; emulated prior shooters and fed off their notoriety and public fear created; and had the means to carry out the act.

Peterson and Densley noted that most mass shooters have reached a point of having lost everything and are likely suicidal. Sadly, these persons don’t slide so far without missing the notice of someone—a family member, friend, neighbor.

Among their recommendations was the reminder we need to be proactive, not just in time of crisis, but when the trauma is first experienced. These events are a sad reminder that we owe to each other to build trust, demonstrate empathy and keep lines of communications open, particularly in times of crisis. You never know the crisis you may avert or the community you will strengthen.

Editorial: State Court Decision an Opportunity to Tighten Local Rules on Malfunctioning Solar/Wind Projects

July 22, 2019 by The Chestertown Spy 1 Comment

A Maryland Court of Appeals’ recent decision to uphold state law over local authority on where solar fields are placed should not be much of a surprise. The Maryland Legislature long ago invested exclusive authority to control the location and sizing of energy production facilities and the locating of transmission lines in the Maryland Public Service Commission. Indeed, the Legislature recently reinforced that position by expressly limiting the authority of local governments to provide input and recommendations as part of Maryland’s ramped up renewable energy agenda.

The Perennial Solar decision affirmed the decision of the Washington County Board of Zoning Appeals to grant a conditional use and variance to operate a commercial-sized array near a historic rural community. Local residents sought judicial review of the decision. Contemporaneously, the Washington County Commissioners also intervened and simultaneously adopted legislation to prohibit such arrays near certain rural townships.

The Circuit Court for Washington County affirmed the Board of Zoning Appeals and rejected the County’s legislative move, citing the doctrine of implied preemption. The Court of Special Appeals affirmed the Circuit Court. Not satisfied, Washington County sought review by the Court of Appeals. Kent County and Queen Anne’s County joined in. The Court granted review and after oral arguments affirmed the lower court holdings.

There was a silver lining buried deep in the opinion. The Court noted the limited nature of the PSC’s preemptive powers, namely control of sizing and location, but reserved on prohibiting local regulations over end use and remediation. The Perennial Solar decision is limited to solar arrays, but could be easily applied to wind energy projects.

This is a good opportunity for the Kent County Commissioners and Queen Anne’s County Commissioners to tighten the solar and wind generation regulations to address remediation when solar or wind equipment stops functioning, mandating notice to the county upon malfunction, require the timely repair, replacement or removal, and require bonding for removal costs.

Ten Years of Spying in Chestertown

April 15, 2019 by The Chestertown Spy

Ten years ago in a disheveled shed behind my Chestertown home, a small button was pressed, starting a new era for a hyper-local news source for a town I had fallen in love with when I first appeared on Washington College’s campus in the fall of 1974.

That spring of 2009 was filled with many unknowns for this publisher. Born in the midst of the great recession with very little evidence that this radically new educational format would be used or appreciated, this fledgling enterprise had no identified sponsors. It was less than certain that the Chestertown Spy, named after the town’s first newspaper that started in 1793, would survive much longer than its namesake’s 18 month lifespan.

Fast forward to 2019, and the Spy continues to publish every day and now serves an annual readership of over 400,000. And more importantly, our readers are coming to this website for all the right reasons.

They come to the Spy as a trusted media source and to better understand our community affairs, local arts, and the Mid-Shore’s regional culture.

It perhaps takes a decade before a founder is able to reflect on the value of an innovation. With the primary goal of simply existing day to day, there is no real opportunity to assess whether an experiment is actually working.

But now in the spring of 2019, after the publication of some 5,000 original articles and 3,000 video profiles, there is some rationale for looking back on the last ten years. And as a result, there is the reassuring conclusion that the original intent of having this hybrid newspaper be perceived as useful has worked.

It is also in these moments that when I reflect on the Spy’s accomplishments, the overused but accurate cliché, “it takes a village,” emerges as the fundamental reason for the Chestertown Spy’s success.

From the earliest advertisers — Chesapeake Architects, Chesapeake Bank and Trust, and Cross Street Realty — to the local journalists, filmmakers, and internet specialists who make the publication possible today, the Spy from Day One was able to rely on both the monetary and intellectual generosity of this community.

But it has also been the cumulative impact of a multitude of small gestures of support that made this success story happen. From the gentle emails telling us of typos, alerting us to people and programs needing attention, or just as importantly, criticizing the Spy on its editorial judgment, bias, or digression from our mission, are examples of caring that sustain and comfort its editors and writers.

All of this warm-hearted support and tough love has made the Spy so much better than I had ever imagined it would be. And as a result, I am extremely humbled.

Starting last year, we launched an annual campaign to cover the invisible but very real costs of running the Chestertown Spy. Editors do receive modest stipends, and the Spy also incurs a handful of monthly expenses for technical support, art design, and a variety of web service fees and subscription services that add up.

While our sponsors and their ads help pay for many of these costs, a small portion of the operating budget can only be covered through the donations of our readers.

I apologize in advance for the Spy’s use of pop-up ads to encourage these donations starting today. These are a genuinely annoying but necessary tool in gaining the attention of our readers. We promise they will end at the end soon.

But in the meantime, please consider making a tax-deductible donation this month so we can continue to spy on Chestertown for many years to come.

With gratitude,

Dave Wheelan
Founder and Executive Editor

Spy Time Machine: A Vincent Hynson Scholar in 2011 Plans for College and Career

March 25, 2019 by The Chestertown Spy Leave a Comment

In today’s Spy, there is a short interview with the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy’s project manager Darius Johnson on an upcoming planning conference on traffic problems and solutions for Bay Bridge congestion. We encourage our readers to view this conversation here to learn more about this important program.

In the middle of our interesting chat about one of the Spy’s favorite subjects, there was a wave of emotion as the interviewer had a momentary flashback to one of the early stories of the Spy in the 2011. Eight years ago, we met Darius and his father, Barry, in front of Sam’s shortly after he had received news that he had been awarded Washington College’s Vincent Hynson Memorial Scholarship. Just a few weeks from graduating from Kent County High School, Darius talked about his hopes for college life and career aspirations.

Fast forward to the spring of 2019 and the Spy found a unmistakable joy in seeing this young man well on his way in serving the Mid-Shore he loves so most. The full circle of Darius’ journey speaks volumes about the benefits of higher education, but more so much about Kent County schools, Washington College, and most importantly, the impact of hundreds in our community who gave time and resources to make it possible for Vincent Hynson’s memory to be so brilliantly celebrated.

We have reposted our article from May 30, 2011 below.

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Kent County High School Senior Darius Johnson is looking forward to attending Washington College for the 2011-2012 school year. But he won’t have to travel far for a home-cooked meal or to get some laundry done. Darius will live on campus, but his home is just a few miles away in Worton.

Darius won the 2011 Vincent Hynson scholarship, established by former Washington College President Baird Tipson. The scholarship honors the life and achievement of local pastor, teacher, and WC graduate, Vincent Hynson, whose leadership in the community made a difference in the lives of Kent County’s youth and his congregation.

Before the big graduation day, Saturday, June 4, the Spy asked Darius to answer a brief questionnaire on his recent achievements and his decision to stay home for his college years.

Darius Johnson and father Barry Johnson

Question: Besides winning the Vincent Hynson Scholarship, what are among your greatest personal and academic achievements at Kent County High School, what will you remember most about your years at KCHS?

Answer: I would have to say being inducted into the National Honor Society and being voted Most likely to Be Successful by my peers. The NHS is an achievement that basically speaks for itself, and being recognized by those my own age as Most Likely To Be Successful makes me feel like all my hard work has not gone unnoticed. I feel that when one’s peers acknowledge another’s accomplishments, it is a big deal. It is usually adults who show acknowledgment. Honestly, the connections I’ve made with so many people at KCHS will be in my mind forever – the staff, and my friends. I get along well with the majority of the people no matter the age. I’ve became more of a people person throughout my four years at KCHS and I have built some strong relationships.

Question: Most young men your age want to go away to school, why did you decide to stay home to attend college?

Answer: Originally, I did want to get away from Kent County because I felt like it was the thing to do. Everyone else I was friends with has done it or aspired to do it. Hence, why I applied to Drexel University and Mount St. Mary’s. It was not until Fall of my Senior year that I realized that moving away does not determine one’s college experience. I believe college is as enjoyable as one makes it, and I could enjoy WC as much as any other college. I ultimately chose WC because I loved the atmosphere. It fit my laid-back personality and it has a huge variety of people from all over the country. Living on campus will still provide me with the college experience I yearn for, while also staying connected with my roots. So I feel as if I am getting the best of both worlds.

Question: Explain your relationship with your parents, and how that influenced you in your success. What golden rules did they teach you as you grew to be a successful young man?

Answer: My parents are amazing people. They always encourage me to do my best, but never force me to do anything I am uncomfortable with. They are the type of people to teach by example and work hard towards the goals, which naturally was instilled in me. They set a good foundation for their lives by knowing and following their priorities, leading to us living comfortable and happy lives. I’ve learned to always stick by my friends, family and morals in life. To always keep a level head and an open mind. The examples they have provided me with have shaped me into who I am today.

What will your major be at WC, and why did you select the major?

Answer: As of now, I want to major in Criminal Justice or some form of Law. I have always been interested in law and with how the world is today, I cannot help but want to make it a better and safer place. Just looking at the news and seeing all the stories about crime really upset me. I may be only one person, but even one person can make some kind of a difference, and I hope to have a part in fighting against those with a disregard for the law. It seems to be getting worse with the murders and kidnappings of young children, gang violence, and hate crimes. I hate to see someone get hurt, especially if they have no reason for such wrath.

Question: What are your plans after college – do you plan to study abroad, go onto a Master’s degree program, or begin a career?

Answer: After college I plan to go onto a Master’s degree program. I believe I should go as far as I can take myself with my education, so I can put myself into a better position for finding a career. Eventually, I hope to end up working in the Department of Justice.

Kent County Philanthropist Judy Kohl has Passed

December 5, 2018 by The Chestertown Spy 1 Comment

With profound sadness, the Chestertown Spy learned this morning that Kent County philanthropist, friend of the arts, and educator Judy Kohl has passed away.
The former college professor was the wife of Benjamin Kohl of Betterton.

Since their retirement from Poughkeepsie, New York more than fifteen years ago, the couple created the Hedgelawn Foundation to provide philanthropic support to many of Kent County’s most worthy cultural, educational and arts programs and organizations. Judy was particularly devoted to performance art and music, and was a major force in the Prince Theatre’s transformation into the Garfield Center for the Arts on High Street, as well as the needs of the Miller Library at Washington College, and her beloved Mainstay working closely with her friend Tom McHugh. The Kohls were also the benefactors of the Kohl Gallery at WC.

Judy Kohl was also one of the original sponsors of the Chestertown Spy project and served on its Board of Advisors since 2010.

The Spy will have more to share about Judy’s life and contributions over the course of the next few days.

William Smith’s Washington College with Colin Dickson

September 10, 2018 by The Chestertown Spy

It is a common mistake to assume that George Washington was the founder of Washington College in 1782. That was not the case, but the future first president of the United States did agree to allow the use his name for an entirely new liberal arts college in Chestertown as well as hard cash as a donation, which was hard to come by after the Revolution.

No, that honor goes to William Smith, a brilliant academic who had helped start the College of Philadelphia (now University of Pennsylvania) with Ben Franklin and became its first leader. Forced to leave Philly due to his loyalist politics, he came to Chestertown at the request of the town, to start a revolutionary new form of undergraduate education.

In the fall of each year, as Washington College starts its new semester, we like to share an interview with former WC professor Colin Dickson in 2012 about William Smith and how extraordinarily lucky Chestertown was to have such a visionary and innovator in American education start their new school.

This video is approximately ten minutes in length. For more information about Washington College please go here.

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