Serving as Consulting Public Historian as City of Havre de Grace Pieces Together Forgotten Parts of Its History as Part of National Park Service War of 1812 Grant

I am pleased to be working as a consulting public historian on a large Harford County project called “Reconstructing Havre de Grace’s Community History – The War of 1812.”  As part of the development of the Star Spangled Banner National Historic Trail the City of Havre de Grace has obtained a National Park Service grant to research and interpret the history of the town at the top of the Chesapeake Bay around the time of the war.

The other public historian involved in the project, Chris George, is researching military history while I design and direct the research that focuses on the community’s past.   For much of 2011, I will be working with a great group of volunteers, local historians, and community subject matter experts to piece together the forgotten parts of the town’s past.  That will involve lots of archive research on life in Havre de Grace just before, during, and after the British attack of 1813.  It’s an exciting project as the nation and Maryland prepare for the Bicentennial of our second war with Britian and I’m looking forward to participating in some extensive fieldwork with a fine group of volunteers in Havre de Grace.

Getting Started With Genealogy Workshop in Federalsburg

On March 18th, I conducted a workshop for the Caroline County Library System on how to get started with genealogy.  On a Friday evening on the mid-shore a nice crowd with lots of energy gathered to talk about how to do family history.  The workshop was lots of fun and the Star Democrat ran a piece announcing it.

Participating in Focus Group Examining Services at the Delaware Archives

The Delaware State Archives is currently updating its long range plan for delivering patron services.  As part of that internal examination, the staff  assembled panels of stakeholders to discuss the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities of this excellent public repository.  The institution will use insights gained from this examination to assist in framing an updated strategic plan.  It was a pleasure to participate in this process with a group of advanced archives users helping with the repositories planning initiative this past Wednesday.

Talking About History of Municipal Policing to Citizen Police Academy

The first class of the Elkton Police Department’s Citizen Police Academy kicked off this evening, as members of the force welcomed 10 students to the program.  The training academy gives participants a chance to get to know the operation of the department.   I was pleased to be invited to the initial session to talk about the history of municipal policing in Elkton.