Sometimes there’s more in an old house’s attic than moldy winter clothes, broken children’s toys, and mice enclaves. Sometimes there’s treasure.

And treasure, hundreds of rare 18^th and 19th-century documents, were found in the attic of a Queen Anne’s County house on the brink of demolition. The retrieved papers, some 2,000were sent to auction at Crumpton. Luckily, an eagle-eyed historian—Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience Director Adam Goodheart—noticed the auction online and knew what he was looking at: rare slave documents and other papers related to Black history on the Eastern Shore.

The full story written by Michael E. Ruane appeared in Monday’s Washington Post.

Ruane describes the first moment he saw the small broadsheet that offered a reward for a runaway slave “A Negro Man Named Amos:

“It was chilling. There, on cheap rag paper, was the story of American slavery. Amos was “a smart fellow,” about 20, who might be headed for his mother in Philadelphia. But in 1793 he was the property of one William Price, who wanted him caught.”

Charles Sumner Hall just released their official announcement about the find:

“The Commodore Collection of original historical documents on the early experiences of African Americans in Kent and Queen Anne’s counties is a rare find,” according to Dr. Ruth Shoge, First Vice President of Sumner Hall. “The documents, which are intellectually enriching, also evoke an emotional response to the harsh reality of the lives of enslaved and freed Black people in 17th and 18th century America,” she continued. “It is very important to Sumner Hall that this collection has been given to us in perpetuity. The ownership of this collection is an honor and, in a special way, a homecoming for the memories of our ancestors. This collection supports our mission of promoting an understanding of the African American experience within the overall context of American history and culture.”

Thanks to the efforts of local Black residents and the Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience at Washington College, approximately 2,000 pages of documents were purchased from Dixon’s Crumpton Auction this spring. The collection, named after Washington College’s first local Black alumnus, Norris Commodore ’73, will belong to Sumner Hall but is being conserved and archived at the school’s Miller Library. Mr. Commodore, who has deep roots here, gave generously toward the acquisition cost and was joined by the Hedgelawn Foundation, the Kent Cultural Alliance and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The papers are being digitized as a part of the Chesapeake Heartland Project and several can already be viewed online here. President of Sumner Hall’s Board of Directors, Larry Wilson, says, “The Commodore Collection is a very meaningful record of African American life and survival. I believe that it is very important to know our history and to learn from the lives of our ancestors as we work together for equal rights, justice and freedom in this county and across the country. We look forward to having exhibits at Sumner Hall based on these materials soon.”

For more about Sumner Hall, go here.

 

As children develop, they look to the people in their lives to help them figure out who they are. With authentic feedback that focuses on their positive traits, children can develop strong self-esteem. Most likely this will align with their intuitive sense of who they are and who they would like to become. Growing up and filtering positive, constructive feedback from the hurtful words of others, particularly from peers is really hard.

It can be really challenging to parent when other people are mean to our children. How do you teach a child to navigate situations when their “friends” say things that are mean? As we all have experienced, those moments in our lives can be absolutely crushing. At Radcliffe Creek School and in our homes, we try to create a nurturing environment where this doesn’t happen. The reality is that kids can be unkind to each other anywhere and this is difficult to prevent despite our very best efforts. Therefore, it is important to help children build their coping skills. As we know, they can benefit from explicit instruction and help in processing a difficult situation.

Here are some of the tools we need to utilize as parents to help our children feel strong and competent.

-Be an active listener. Provide a safe space for your child to be able to talk about what is going on. This is easier said than done. The situation can feel really awful to your child, no matter how minor you may perceive the situation to be. Sometimes, their perspective may be skewed. Nevertheless, it is still hard to see your child in pain and not want to rush in and try to fix it. Take a deep breath and say, “I am glad you are telling me about what happened. I am here to listen and help if you need me to.”

-Frame the conversation with these questions:

Can you tell me what happened?

Has this happened before?

How did you react? How do you wish you reacted?

Were there other people around? How did they react?

How can your friends or adults be more helpful to you?

What can I do to help you?

-Try hard not to overreact because your child needs to feel like they are capable of working through the situation. When parents get really upset and take away a child’s ability to process, plan, and navigate the situation, your child will lose their sense of competency in dealing with these scenarios. Curse creatively in another room, call a good friend and vent to them about how angry you are at this kid who is making your child miserable. Do not involve your child in that conversation. They should not have to handle your emotions when they are trying to regulate their own. Your children need to know that you believe they will get through this.

-Brainstorm together why your child thinks they were being teased. If you can come up with ideas on why the other kid might be teasing your child, it could help you to create a plan together. Perhaps the other child is:

seeking attention

displaying what the teasing child may experience or what they see on social media

trying to gain a sense of superiority because they don’t feel good about themselves

looking for peer acceptance by putting someone else down

has a misunderstanding of differences

Supporting your children and helping them develop functional coping skills to navigate difficult interactions is difficult. Perhaps they may need other people besides their family to help them solidify these skills. Consider involving counselors, speech and language pathologists, teachers, mentors, administrators, and coaches.

 

 

Justin Thomas Nash, a 22-year-old from Smyrna, Delaware, has won the 2021 Sophie Kerr Prize, the largest undergraduate literary prize in the nation. He was among six finalists considered for the prize, worth $65,580 this year. 

Named after an Eastern Shore author who made her fortune in New York writing women’s fiction during the 1930s and 1940s, the Sophie Kerr Prize is awarded each year to the graduating senior demonstrating the best potential for future achievement in a literary endeavor. The first Sophie Kerr Prize was awarded in 1968. Since then, the endowment has provided more than $2.3 million in prize money to promising young writers, and brought to campus many of the nation’s top writers. 

This year’s winner is an English major with three minors (journalism, publishing & editing; communication & media studies; and art & art history), Justin Nash came to Washington College through the Cherry Tree Young Writers’ Conference, attending two conferences before enrolling in the fall of 2017.

During his four years at WC, he has held a number of literary positions, including editor-in-chief of the campus literary magazine Collegian, and the liberal arts journal Washington College Review. He has been senior poetry reader for Cherry Tree: A National Literary Magazine @ Washington College, vice president of the Writers’ Union, and a member of both the Cater Society of Junior Fellows and Sigma Tau Delta, the honor society for English majors. He was awarded the William Warner Prize for Writing about Nature earlier this spring.

In addition to his internships with Cherry Tree, Nash has held two distinguished internships in the writing and publishing world. Last summer, he interned for 24 Pearl Street, and the summer before that he interned for Copper Canyon Press, the country’s leading independent poetry publisher. 

The poems, stories, and essays in his portfolio, collectively titled Prestidigitate, examine travel, childhood, and conceit through manipulated address and formal play, and greatly impressed the faculty members tasked with choosing a single winner from a pool of talented writers.

 “The Sophie Kerr Committee describes Justin Nash as the consummate literary citizen, notes Sean Meehan, chair of the Department of English and director of the Sophie Kerr Endowment. “Justin grasps the power of writing to move the world, one thoughtful and witty and well-edited line at a time. As a student who has actively worked on every campus publication, with unparalleled editorial skills and instincts, and incredible generosity in supporting his peers and our programs, Justin already has a deep understanding of writing as both a profession and a calling. The Sophie Kerr Prize is awarded to the senior with greatest promise for ‘future fulfillment in the field of literary endeavor.’ Among an incredibly strong field of writers this year, and particularly the talented group of finalists we hear read Friday evening, the Committee believes Justin’s promise is unbounded. We will all be hearing more in years to come from this leader and explorer of the literary landscape.”

James Allen Hall, associate professor of English and director of the Rose O’Neill Literary House who created the Cherry Tree Young Writers’ Conference Nash first attended, has known Nash since even before he enrolled at Washington College.

 “He has proven himself to be an incredible literary talent, with particular strengths in poetry and creative nonfiction writing but also in editing and publishing,” notes Hall. “In his first year, he wrote an essay that was nominated for the Norton Writer’s Prize and which was runner-up and published on Norton’s website. About that essay, the judges wrote that Justin ‘uses an innovative form, imagery, and dialogue to create an evocative piece that helps readers reflect on bodies, identity, and control.’ 

“Justin builds work of incredibly imaginative richness and rigorous structural integrity. His writing echoes literary forbears like Robert Frost and Louise Glück in lines like these: ‘I want to know // which thing to take solace in: that someone/ mends the fence, or that they will not try forever.’ There’s also a deep awareness of contemporary writers as well, especially in his more formally daring work that employ echoes of Jericho Brown and Franny Choi. And yet Justin’s voice never sounds like anyone else. He is making it all new—whether he’s writing about rural landscapes, or about guns, or about the ways in which our bodies are policed. Justin’s writing is urgent and refined, restrained but revelatory. We are meeting him at the beginning of a great career.”

After graduating, Nash intends to take a gap year before pursuing an MFA in poetry. 

 

 

 

Six Washington College seniors today were selected as finalists for the Sophie Kerr Prize in literature, worth $65,580 this year. The winner of the nation’s largest undergraduate literary prize will be announced this Friday, May 21, at 7:30 p.m.

The event, held in person for the finalists on Martha Washington Square, will be hosted by Jim Dissette ’71, a local writer and book artist who won the Sophie Kerr Prize 50 years ago. Viewers can watch the live-streamed event from the YouTube link here.

The finalists each have focused their academic studies in the humanities, predominantly in art & art history, English, communication & media studies, creative writing, and journalism, editing & publishing.

For more about Sophie Kerr and her legacy, go here.

Top left:

MacKenzie Brady • Baltimore

An English and studio art major, MacKenzie Brady is the editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, The Elm; poetry editor for the student literary and arts magazine, Collegian; managing editor of the student journal of liberal arts and sciences, Washington College Review; president of Writers’ Union; a poetry screener for the national literary journal, Cherry Tree; and a member of the National English Honor Society, Sigma Tau Delta. Brady’s portfolio contains poems, flash fiction, essays, and a satirical Elm article exploring relationships, personhood, and family that pushes the limits on form. After graduation, Brady will be working as a reporter for the Kent County News, with plans to pursue an MFA in poetry sometime in the not-so-distant future.

“What’s impressed me most about Washington College is all of the different opportunities I’ve had here. Being able to work on all the publications and have my hands in so many things has been really great.”

Top center:

Nicole Hatfield • Columbia, MD

An English major with minors in creative writing and journalism, editing and publishing, Nicole Hatfield is an intern in the College’s Department of English. Hatfield has been a poetry screener for the past two years for Cherry Tree: A National Literary Magazine @ Washington College She is an active member of the Campus Garden, was an intern at the Eastern Shore Food Lab, and achieved academic distinction as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Hatfield’s portfolio, “Inhabit,” includes a collection of poems, personal essays, and literary analyses, many focused on placemaking and the body.

Top right:

Rebecca Kanaskie • Tamaqua, Pennsylvania

An English major with a minor in journalism, editing & publishing, Rebecca Kanaski worked as a peer consultant for the Writing Center, a photographer for The Elm, a nonfiction screener for Cherry Tree, and was a member of the both the prestigious Cater Society for Junior Fellows and Phi Beta Kappa. Kanaskie’s writing portfolio centers around the facets that constitute place and how they shape one’s personal identity. As her creative nonfiction pieces, academic essays, and prose poetry alternately switch between the creative and academic aspects of photojournalism, Kanaskie’s portfolio culminates in a reflection of the lasting impact natural spaces can hold upon the human mind while also serving as a reminder of the importance of preserving the environment while we are still able to. Having graduated in December 2020, Kanaskie is working at The Brinton Museum in Big Horn, Wyoming, and will attend the University of Idaho for a master’s degree in English literature this fall.

Lower left:

Justin Nash • Smyrna, Delaware

An English major with three minors (journalism, publishing & editing; communication & media studies; and art & art history), Justin Nash came to Washington College through the Cherry Tree Young Writers’ Conference, attending two conferences before enrolling in the fall of 2017.

At WC, Justin has held a number of literary positions, including Editor-in-Chief of Collegian, the campus literary magazine, and the Washington College Review, the liberal arts journal. He has been senior poetry reader for Cherry Tree: A National Literary Magazine @ Washington College, vice president of the Writers’ Union, and a member of both the Cater Society of Junior Fellows and Sigma Tau Delta.

“I thought Washington College was the perfect place for me to do everything I wanted to do,” he says. “I knew the English department was great, but The Cherry Tree journal and the Rose O’Neill Literary House opened up a new world for me.”

The poems, stories, and essays in his portfolio, collectively titled Prestidigitate, examine travel, childhood, and conceit through manipulated address and formal play.

Nash will be looking for jobs in publishing and book production, and is considering pursuing an MFA in poetry.

Lower center:

Megan Walsh • Timonium, MD

Megan Walsh is an English major with a minor in creative writing. In her time at Washington College, she was a member of Alpha Chi Omega, a peer tutor in the Writing Center, a poetry editor for the literary journal Collegian, and a member of Writers’ Union, She was honored to be inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. Walsh’s writing portfolio includes a collection of poetry and short stories that revolve around themes of trauma, self, physicality, and loss. After graduation, she plans to intern for the Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library through the Starr Center’s Explore America program.

Lower right:

Tamia Williams is a double major in English and communication & media studies with three minors (Black studies; creative writing; and journalism, editing & publishing. While participating in Writers’ Union and Cleopatra’s Sisters, she’s worked with various departments around campus to enrich her community. Supported by the Starr Center’s Explore America program, Williams interned in the publishing office at the Library of Congress. She had a second internship with the National Endowment for the Humanities, and achieved distinction as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Her writing portfolio, “Learning to Unlearn,” includes a collection of academic essays, nonfiction pieces, and standalone prose focusing on identity, family, and spirituality.

“I grew up in a Christian household with traditional values. Now I see myself as a spiritual person who is not constrained by stereotypes of ethnicity and race,” she says.

After graduation, she is heading out for a road trip with friends, before applying for a position in publishing.

In honoring the contributions of dedicated community members, Chesapeake College Foundation raised $35,100 for student scholarships during the virtual week-long Chesapeake College Foundation Pride of the Peake 2021 event. The honorees were John DeLuca, Bob Rauch and the Multicultural Advisory Committee.

The Foundation exceeded the goal to raise $30,000 for the designated endowed scholarships celebrating the honorees.

Pride of the Peake culminated on April 29 with its Virtual Finale—an online video event to honor the recipients. The video included appearances by U.S. Senator Ben Cardin and Maryland Senator Adelaide Eckardt, who honored the recipients for their extraordinary service.

The video also featured interviews with students who have benefitted from the support of the honorees. View the complete video at http://www.chesapeake.edu/pride-of-peake

“Our honorees have done so much to help students across our region meet their goals and improve their lives through education,” said Chesapeake College President Clifford Coppersmith. “Their efforts make a difference to our community every day. They choose to invest their talents, energy and resources in our students. We regularly see the results of their investment in the lives of our graduates and the communities they serve.”

Retired businessman and community advocate Mr. DeLuca established the TREES Scholarship to prepare Certified Nursing Assistants for work in the community. Since launching the scholarship to aid aspiring CNA’s, Mr. DeLuca’s support has expanded to include other workforce training initiatives.

A long-time supporter of higher education in Maryland, Mr. Rauch is President of RAUCH inc. and has partnered with Chesapeake to prepare the region’s workforce. He has worked to provide both career and transfer pathways for Chesapeake students.

The Multicultural Advisory Committee, comprised of college employees and community members, works to promote diversity and inclusion at Chesapeake. To help support this mission, the group fundraises for the J.C. Gibson Memorial Book Scholarship for economically challenged students in the five-county service area.

The Peake level sponsor was the Birney Charitable Fund| Queenstown Harbor Golf Resort. The Gold Level sponsors were Reza and Dale Jafari and McDonald’s|The Meoli Companies.

Green Level sponsors were Bruce and Blenda Armistead, Cliff and Kathy Coppersmith; and Philip and Irmy Webster. The Blue Level sponsors were Candle Light Cove, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Cecil, Chaney Enterprises, Edward H. Boyd Fund, Shore United Bank, PKS & Company, Willow Construction, Blenda Armistead, Tom and Cathy Hill; and Mark, Donna, Dominic, Mia and Luke Farella.

Online donations to the scholarships can be made through May 15 at www.chesapeake.edu/pride-of-peake. For information about supporting the scholarships, please contact Michelle Hall at mhall@chesapeake.edu.