A consultant firm from Chicago called Preservation Futures is working with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the National Park Service on an initiative to collect and share information about Chesapeake Watershed Sites and Landscapes that are important to African Americans.
The Chesapeake Mapping Initiative is intended to ensure that places important to African Americans are better represented in historic preservation and land conservation priorities in the Chesapeake Bay region, and ultimately that more of these places are recognized, protected, and provided access to incentives. It will also lay the groundwork for future mapping efforts for African American historic places by assessing the effectiveness of different community-centered project approaches.
In the second round of the initiative’s pilot stage, the Chesapeake Mapping Initiative will focus on three counties/places within the region, and one of these is Anne Arundel County. The planners hope to host a public engagement activity that would provide participants with an opportunity to contribute directly to the intuitive by sharing information on what historic places and sites are important via a variety of formats, including an online platform and map, materials that participants can take home and share, and an opportunity to speak directly with the project team, who will be on site. Chesapeake Crossroads Heritage Area is happy to assist in driving engagement towards this important project.
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