Last year a great deal of work for LCHP programs was achieved by volunteers and  through partnerships with University of Maryland Department of American Studies, Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities and College of Information Studies. In our decade of work, we have developed a unique, equitable collaborative relationship between a community and scholars. This work will continue with a new $100,000 grant from National Endowment for the Humanities.

The focus of this year’s work has been the Lakeland Digital Archive. Collection of new oral histories and images was done with funding from two grants. A College Park Foundation grant supported work with the Last Class of Lakeland High School. A grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities provided funds used for general collections work. That project will end with a presentation , Lakelanders Spirit: Thru digital footprints, our stories and heritage  on Saturday, September 19 at Embry AME Church.

‘Outside of these funds work was done to better organize and document our materials and investigate ways to make the Archive more sustainable and accessible. This effort includes exploring relationships with other archives including UMCP, Morgan State University and others.  Smaller projects are underway to complete Geographic Mapping of Lakeland and create information about the movements of residents within the community over time.

Notable this year has been the work of two young Lakelanders, Courtnie Thurston, Morgan State University graduate student and Cameron Thurston. These two have added a great deal of energy, creativity and a critical perspective to the work.

Outreach activities this year have included presentations of our work and the Lakeland Story at Trolley Trail Day, UM classes and professional group meetings as well as Black Communities: A Conference for Collaboration, Durham, NC.