AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE LINK

AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE LINK

COMMUNITY-BASED WORK WITH EPA AND NPS

HELP PEOPLE HELP THEMSELVES CONSERVE AND PROTECT THEIR ENVIRONMENTS, CULTURES AND ECONOMIES

WORK TAKES DIFFERENT FORMS BUT THE CONCEPT OF HERITAGE SURFACED IN EARLY DISCUSSIONS

MOST UNIFYING CONCEPT—WHAT DOES IT MEAN?  HISTORIC PRESERVATIONISTS HAVE A DEFINITION.  HOWEVER, I USUALLY ASK PEOPLE WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO THEM?

EVERYONE KNOWS WHAT HERITAGE MEANS—WE ALL HAVE A PAST.  IN DORCHESTER COUNTY, WHERE I HELPED THE COUNTY AND COMMUNITY LEADERS DEVELOP A HERITAGE TOURISM PLAN, THEY SAID HERITAGE WAS “WHO WE WERE, WHO WE ARE AND WHO WE WILL BE”.

I’VE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK ON LOCAL EFFORTS WITH A STRONG EMPHASIS ON AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE IN A NUMBER OF PLACES, MOST NOTABLY; THE SC HERITAGE PROJECT; THE DORCHESTER COUNTY HERITAGE TOURISM PLAN; AND THE POTOMAC AMERICAN HERITAGE RIVER.

SC HERITAGE CORRIDOR PLAN—TELL A STORY ABOUT THE LAND, ITS PEOPLE AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO EACH OTHER.

DORCHESTER COUNTY HERITAGE PLAN—USE THE HERITAGE OF THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE TO BUILD COMMUNITY PRIDE AND FOSTER APPROPRIATE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES.

POTOMAC AMERICAN HERITAGE PLAN—SUPPORT COMMUNITY ACTION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL, CULTURAL AND ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES.

AFRICAN AMERICAN HEERITAGE LINK—PROMOTES REGIONAL TOURISM AND SEEKS TO ENHANCE THE UNDERSTANDING OF HERITAGE AND HERITAGE RESOURCES IN THE BASIN.

OUTGROWTH OF DICUSSIONS WITH VINCE DEFOREST AND BRANDY BYRD.  AHR NEEDED TO MAKE SURE WE WERE RECOGNIZING ALL OF THE HERITAGE OF THE NATION’S RIVER AND IT’S WATERSHED.

BRANDY AND FRANCIS ACHANA DEVELOP A NETWORK OF HERITAGE SITES DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE HISTORICAL AFRICAN AMERICAN EXPERIENCE WITHIN DC, MD, PA, VA AND WV.  RECOGNIZES URR SITES; HISTORIC SITES AND COMMUNITIES; FESTIVALS AND EVENTS; AND RECREATIONAL HERITAGE.

PLACES SUCH AS THE FREDERICK DOUGLAS NHS; EVENTS SUCH AS THE PERAL AFFAIR REENACTMENT AND THE ELK’S PARADE; JOHN BROWN’S HEADQUARTERS; AND MANY MORE.

THIS PART OF THE POTOMAC AHR WAS IMPORTANT FOR IT NOT ONLY DOCUMENTS PEOPLE, PLACES AND ACTIVITIES, BUT IT BUILDS A BRIDGE TO PARTNER.  A PARTNERSHIP THAT COULD LEAD TO OTHER WAYS TO RECOGNIZE AND CELEBRATE THE URR AND OTHER ASPECTS OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, AL OF THESE EFFORTS ARE ABOUT USING THE PAST, AND THE PRESENT TO ACHIEVE A PROSPEROUS AND SUSTAINABLE FUTURE.  HEERITAGE IS A WAY TO RECOGNIZE WHAT EACH OF OUR STORIES BRINGS TO THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE.  IT’S A WAY FOR US TO BETTER UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER AND THE VALUES WE CONTRIBUTE TO SOCIETY.

THESE THREE EFFORTS ARE IMPORTANT BECAUSE THEY WOULDN’T HAVE HAPPENED WITH LEADERSHIP AND LOCAL INITIATIVE.

I SPOKE WITH EVELYN TOWNSEND, WHO IS WORKING ON THE URR IN CAMBRIDGE, MD.  I TALKED WITH EVELYN AND TOLD HER THAT I THOUGHT THAT WE HAD LOOKED AT INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE, COAL HERITAGE, NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE, MARITIME HERITAGE, AND TRANSPORTATION HERITAGE AND PERRHAPS IT WAS TIME TO FOCUS MORE ATTENTION ON AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE.

MS. TOWNSEND SAID TO ME THAT SHE THOUGHT THAT, RATHER THAN IT BEING TIME TO FOCUS ON AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE, SHE FELT THAT PEOPLE WERE READY TO TELL THEIR STORY ABOUT WHO THEY WERE, ARE AND WILL BE.  YOUR INTEREST AND INITIATIVE, AND WILLING TO SHARE THIS PART OF OUR HERITAGE IS CENTRAL TO WHAT WE CAN ACCOMPLISH IN COMMUNITIES AND ACROSS THE NATION.

I WISH YOU CONTINUED SUCCESS IN YOUR WORK.