News & Events

THE STARR CENTER

The Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast

Mon., January 15, 2024 at 8:30 A.m. et - Fountain Park

MLK Annual Breakfast Celebration Sponsored by Minary's Dream Alliance, NAACP, Chester Valley Ministers Association, Washington College's Office of the President, and the Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience.
- 8:30 AM: March and Reading at Fountain Park, Chestertown MD
- 9:00 AM: Breakfast (Tickets HERE), Hodson Hall Dining Hall, Washington College
- 10:00 AM: Free Banquet to follow Breakfast, Decker Theatre, Gibson Center for the Arts, Washington College - Inclement Weather Date: January 20, 2024

Breakfast Tickets $20

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Combating Erasure a lecture by Robell Awake

Mon., November 6, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. et - Litrenta Hall

A lecture with chairmaker Robell Awake

November 6, at 6:30 pm ET - Please join the Starr Center and the Art + Art History Department, in Litrenta Lecture Hall, for a lecture by Ethiopian-American, Atlanta- based woodworker, Robell Awake. Awake pairs two types of traditional woodworking in his practice: American ladderback chair making, which was pioneered by enslaved Black Americans, and Ethiopian Jimma chair design. Awake will lecture on the Black design traditions that have historically been overlooked or appropriated and speak on how he designs and fabricates “green wood” chairs to resurrect that obscured history.

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Book Talk during Sultana Downrigging Festival

SAT., OcTOBER 28, 2023 at 2:30 p.m. et - Harwood Nature Center

The Last Island by Starr Center Director Adam Goodheart

October 28, 2023 at 2:30 p.m. ET - Please join the Starr Center and the Bookplate bookstore, at the newly opened Sultana Harwood Nature Center in the Lawrence Preserve, for a conversation between writer Fernanda Moore and Starr Center Director Adam Goodheart, where they will discuss his new book "The Last Island: Discovery, Defiance, and the Most Elusive Tribe on Earth".

The indigenous hunter-gatherers of North Sentinel Island, in the Bay of Bengal, have lived in virtual isolation from the rest of the world for centuries.

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60 Years After the Kennedy Assassination: A Conversation

TUE., OcTOBER 10, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. et - Hyson Lounge, Hodson Hall

Jefferson Morley JFK Talk
October 10, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. ET - Please join the Starr Center at the Hynson Lounge for a conversation between Starr Center Deputy Director, Jason Patterson and author and Journalist, Jefferson Morley. Jefferson Morley is a veteran Washington investigative journalist and former Washington Post editor. He is a leading source on the circumstances and history of the Kennedy assassination, and is the editor of the Substack blog JFK Facts.

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A Lecture on Abolitionist Henry Highland Garnet

TUE., OcTOBER 3, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. et - sumner Hall

Henry Highland Garnet
October 3, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. ET - Join the Starr Center at Sumner Hall (the last functioning Grand Army of the Republic African American Civil War veteran meeting hall), for a lecture on Henry Highland Garnet. Garnet was a prominent reverend, orator and abolitionist in the 19th century.

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"Sold Down the River:" A Public Conversation with Edward Ball

MON., APRIL 24, 2023 at 5:30 p.m. et - Litrenta LECTURE HALL

Edward Ball event flyer

April 24, 2023 at 5:30 p.m. ET - Award-winning author and historian Edward Ball will discuss his book in progress, a pathbreaking work on four Black families that survived enslavement and forced migration. Ball is the 2022-23 Patrick Henry History Fellow at Washington College’s Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience. Ball has spent the academic year in Chestertown researching his new book Sold Down the River, . . ."

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A Century of Black Film with Wil Haygood

Wed., March 8, 2023 at 5:30 p.m. et - Litrenta LECTURE HALL

Poster

March 8, 2023 at 5:30 p.m. ET - Acclaimed journalist, bestselling author, and former Starr Center Fellow Wil Haygood will return to Washington College for this public program co-sponsored by the Starr Center and the Rose O'Neill Literary House. Haygood will discuss his recent book Colorization: 100 Years of Black Films in a White World, which examines the struggles and triumphs of Black actors. . ."

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Eastern Shore Opinion Poll Presentation

Wed., November 30, 2022 at 4:30 p.m. et - Litrenta LECTURE HALL

eastern shore poll event flyer

November 30, 2022 at 4:30 p.m. ET - The midterm elections might be over, but but there’s much more to learn from the results of Washington College’s inaugural Eastern Shore Opinion Poll. Miller Director Dr. Patrick Nugent, and Dr. Flavio Hickel and Dr. Christine Wade from Washington College’s Department of Political Science, will describe the poll’s launch and present key findings about the policy and civic engagement. . ."

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Five Score Later: Civil Rights & Historical Memory in Gettysburg

thurs., march 24, 2022 at 5 p.m. et - via zoom

Image of Jill Titus event date and headshot

March 24, 2022 at 5 p.m. ET - The role Gettysburg played in the American Civil War has been studied at length. But what about the role the town played in the American Civil Rights movement, 100 years later? And how did the town's historical memory impact the present? Join Starr Center Director Adam Goodheart for a Zoom conversation with Author and Historian Jill Ogline Titus as they discuss her new book. . . "

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Premiere of "Rooted Wisdom: Nature's Role in the Underground Railroad"

FRI., march 11, 2022 at 7 p.m. est - virtual event

Logo for Rooted Wisdom

March 11, 2022 at 7 p.m. EST - Join Starr Center Director Adam Goodheart for the virtual premiere of "Rooted Wisdom: Nature's Role in the Underground Railroad," a guided experience and short documentary film created by Adkins Arboretum and the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park. Goodheart will be moderating a panel discussion with historians and the filmmakers, following the premiere.

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The Heart of the Eastern Shore (a feature on Chesapeake Heartland Project)

JANUARY/FEBRUARY ISSUE FEBRUARY ISSUE

From Chesapeake Bay Magazine - Kim Briscoe Moody carries a map in her memory. “I was born and grew up on Prospect Street, in Chestertown. My mom grew up, was born on Calvert Street, and my father was also born on Prospect Street. I grew up in the Bethel AME Church [on the block in between], and I can remember playing on the back lot. It brings me joy, when I go home, to see. . ."

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Sophie Kerr Series Presents Sufiya Abdur-Rahman Presents Presents

WED., november 17 at 5:00 PM EsT via Zoom

Headshot of Sufiya Abdur-Rahman

November 17 at 5:00 p.m. EST - A non-fiction reading by Prof. Sufiya Abdur-Rahman, co-sponsored by the Rose O'Neill Literary House and the Starr Center for the Study of American History. Sufiya Abdur-Rahman’s writing investigates questions of family, identity, race, and religion and, often, how they intersect. Her essays, articles, and criticism have appeared in publications including...

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Virtual preview for "ISAAC: A Musical Journey," a play by Marlon Saunders

sat., november 6 at 7:30 PM EsT via Zoom

Event images

November 6 at 7:30 p.m. EST - Written and composed by Marlon Saunders, "ISAAC" was commissioned by the Kent Cultural Alliance and the Chesapeake Heartland Project and is based on the memoirs of Isaac Mason, a formerly enslaved person, born in Kent County, Md., who escaped to freedom. This free preview will feature songs from the show and a conversation with Starr Center Director Adam Goodheart and Saunders.

REGISTER NOW

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Thomas Jefferson and Race - A Zoom Conversation with Author & Scholar Mia Bay

Tues., October 12 at 5:00 PM EsT via Zoom

Mia Bay headshot

October 12 at 5 p.m. EST - Much has been written about Thomas Jefferson and his impact, but what did African Americans think about this founding father? Join us for a thought-provoking Zoom conversation with Mia Bay—leading scholar of African American history—about her current book project on Jefferson. This event occurred in the past, but you can still see the conversation here.

EVENT VIDEO

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Newark resident completes internship with the Smithsonian

THURS., SEPTember 9, 2021 SEPTember 9, 2021

From the Newark Post - Newark resident Ama Amponsah recently completed an internship with the National Museum of African American History and Culture, where she promoted the Smithsonian Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap with a series of blog posts. 'My favorite thing about my internship was learning about the origins of hip-hop music and how it’s more than a music genre, it’s a culture that’s. . .

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An inside look at recently discovered two-hundred year old documents

TUES., AUGUST 31, 2021

Image of Delmarva Life logo

From WBOC's Delmarvalife Program - Watch this seven-minute segment about The Commodore Collection, a unqiue archive of local African American history recently discovered in a house in Chestertown. These historic papers were saved from the auction house by historians from the Starr Center and the Chesapeake Heartland Project and local activists and are archived at Washington College's Miller Library.

WATCH THE VIDEO

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Hip Hop Time Capsule: a summer program focusing on diversity

MON., AUGUST 23, 2021

From WBAL Radio - Hip Hop Time Capsule is a new collaboration between high school and college students in Kent County, Maryland, and musicians, college professors and museum professionals. As part of the program, a diverse group of 14 local teenagers, most with deep roots in the community, chronicled a musical heritage that stretches from work songs sung by the enslaved, through. . .

READ & LISTEN

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A Starr in the East (a feature article on The Starr Center at Washington College)

AUGUST 2021 Issue

From the August 2021 issue of "What's Up Eastern Shore" - After more than two decades since its inception, the Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience at Washington College has put Chestertown on the academic-history map. Political forces in the United States , especially over the past year, are being compelled to reckon with the way. . .

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Hogan Announces Funding for New Endowment Honoring Late Senator President Mike Miller

THURS., JULY 15, 2021

From the Office of Governor Larry Hogan - Governor Larry Hogan today announced that he will be providing $1 million to Washington College in his forthcoming Fiscal Year 2023 budget proposal to fund a new directorship within the Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience to honor the historic legacy of longtime Maryland Senate President. . .

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Thousands of pages documenting slavery found in attic of Eastern Shore house

FRI., JULY 2, 2021

The Hill Article Image

From The Hill - Thousands of papers, some documenting the auction and sale of enslaved Black Americans, were headed for the auction block themselves before Black historians and community members stepped in to reclaim ownership over their past. 'It was important to the community because this will connect the dots for people and the younger generation, to let them. . .

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Maryland attic hid a priceless trove of Black history. Historians and activists saved it from auction.

MON., JUne 28, 2021

Image of commodore collection document

From The Washington Post - The 200-year-old document was torn and wrinkled. It had stains here and there. And it was sitting on a plastic table in the storeroom of an auction house near the Chester River hamlet of Crumpton, on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Historian Adam Goodheart had seen it before, but only in a blurry website photo. Now, here it was in a simple framed box. . .