by Don Barker | Nov 1, 2023 | Black History & Culture, Black Schools, dbarker
Through 90 years of racial segregation and funding disparity, black schools in Caroline County were sacred ground in the fight for equal education, democracy, and civil rights. Eight are still standing. There were no public schools for enslaved or free blacks...
by Don Barker | Oct 14, 2023 | dbarker, Women, WWII
Louise Hollister, Maryland School of Nursing, Class of 1939. Native of Hillsboro. 2LT Louise A. Hollister, RN, Army Nurse Corps, 1942-1943. She was Maryland’s only Army Nurse casualty in WWII. 2LT Louise Hollister was too busy...
by Don Barker | Oct 14, 2023 | Black History & Culture, dbarker, Religion
I walked 16 miles from Easton to my father’s. I knocked at the door and said, “Who lives here?” Father answered by saying, “Who is that?” I said, “Me.” Then mother said, “That’s Alexander”– showing a mother never forgets her child. Read Bishop Wayman’s story...
by Don Barker | Oct 11, 2023 | Black History & Culture, Champions of Freedom & Civil Rights, dbarker, Women
She was born free in Caroline County. He was born across the river in Talbot, enslaved. They followed separate paths to Baltimore. Anna met Frederick for the first time at the city wharves. He was 19, she was 24. Frederick was an enslaved shipbuilder. Anna had a...
by Don Barker | Aug 14, 2022 | dbarker, Grist Mills, Mills
History and Location of Dickinson’s Mill Other Names: Possibly Blades Mill Years: Unk Structure Exists? Mill dam ruins in Fowling Creek Historic Site Location Precision: 50 meters John F. McGrain wrote in The Molinography of Maryland, Expanded, 2007 Edition...
by Don Barker | Jun 28, 2022 | dbarker, Historic Landscape, Historic Sites Mapping
Historical Maps from the David Rumsey Collection Maryland’s Eastern Shore and what later became Caroline County were first mapped by Augustine Hermann in 1670. Many of the maps which show the Eastern Shore since 1670 have been preserved and digitized by the...
by Don Barker | Jun 25, 2022 | dbarker, Historic Landscape, Historic Sites Mapping
We can see the Caroline County landscape in 1897, thanks to the efforts of two county citizens working 72 years apart. I found no reference to M. L. Saulsbury’s mapmaking in the Denton Journal around 1897. So I’m not sure why this map was made. And I...
by Don Barker | Jun 6, 2022 | dbarker, Historic Landscape, Historic Sites Mapping
We give you two ways to explore the 1875 John B. Isler map of Caroline County and compare it to the modern landscape: Spyglass View Swipe View In each of these maps, click the icon in the upper left: Do you like what you're reading here? Please consider donating to...
by Don Barker | Jun 1, 2021 | A.M.E. Church, Black History & Culture, dbarker, Women
First Black Churches and Congregations in the Choptank River Heritage Area, re-discovered through the journal of Mrs. Jarena Lee. Jarena Lee (1783-1849) was the first female preacher of the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church. She left her Philadelphia...
by Don Barker | Feb 20, 2021 | Black History & Culture, Churches, dbarker
“You know the feelings of the white people here in Delaware. Are you ready to die?” I said, None of these things move me. I never was so inspired to speak since the day I was born. And news went back to Caroline, that I was shot and killed. The Legacy of...
by Don Barker | Jan 15, 2021 | dbarker, Everyday Citizens, Historic Sites Mapping
This article shows you how to use the Choptank River HeritageFamily Search Map to find names of persons who owned farms and businesses in Caroline County in the 1890s. Open the map app. Type a family name (last name) into the Search box. Not case sensitive....
by Don Barker | Mar 19, 2020 | dbarker, Women
In an unusual twist of fate, the Ridgely native – and prominent teacher, suffragette, and businesswoman – received more attention from the Baltimore press than from local media during her remarkable lifetime. [ Researched and written by Caroline...
