Newsletter 11 – Fall Winter 2008

MHAA Grant Awards to Four Rivers Total $186,916
Four Rivers: The Heritage Area of Annapolis, London Town & South
County announces the
Maryland Heritage Areas Authority (MHAA)
has approved fiscal year
2009 grant awards to
four organizations in the
heritage area. These
grant funds of $186,916,
which are fully matched
at the local level, will
help support development of regional heritage-related projects totaling more than
$397,000. Four Rivers received $100,000 for operating and program assistance, supporting activities such as the annual mini-grants
program, the annual heritage awards, regional interpreter training,
area site director networking meetings, educational workshops, and
new economic development and capacity-building initiatives. Four
Rivers also assisted the following local heritage-related organizations
in obtaining MHAA funding:
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The Annapolis Maritime Museum will receive $50,000 in grant
funding to support an interactive exhibit entitled, “Oysters on
the Half Shell,” the first component of its new Bay Experience
Center in the reconstructed McNasby Oyster Company building
in Eastport, a 7,000-square-foot museum with exhibits, classroom, meeting room, and public amenities, showcasing the
area's rich maritime heritage. The “Oysters on the Half Shell”
exhibit will bring visitors “face-to-face” with oysters, terrapins,
blue crabs, rockfish and other indigenous fauna and flora of the
Chesapeake Bay.
Historic Annapolis Foundation was awarded a capital project
grant of $17,500 for repair and painting of damaged exterior
wood elements of the William Paca House, an outstanding example of Georgian architecture that serves as the key interpretive site of the Historic Annapolis Foundation. An educational
component on the Foundation’s website will document the
preservation process and teach viewers about the importance
and methodology of this challenging type of preservation project.
Historic London Town and Gardens was awarded $19,416 to
research, produce, and distribute an 8-minute video that will
introduce visitors to the site, reflecting new improvements and
programming that include a $5.1 million visitor center facility
with exhibits, archaeology lab and horticultural center, as well
as its expanded reconstructed historic area and major upgrades
to its 8-acre woodland and ornamental gardens.
Four Rivers announces eight new
mini-grant awards to local heritage-related nonprofit organizations. See page 2 for details.
Are You Ready for
Maryland Day 2009?!
Maryland Day 2009 is shaping up to be a
spectacular event — mark your calendars
for March 29!
As we were planning next year’s event,
Four Rivers won a “CreateAThon 2008”
contest for free marketing assistance from
Purple Cat, an Eastern Shore public relations firm, and Octo Design Group, a
Philadelphia-based graphic design firm,
which resulted in the snappy, eye-catching
logo pictured above. We are anticipating
participation from all of our 2008 partners
and some new ones as well!
Maryland Day 2009 will offer free, funfilled and educational events for the whole
family. A dedicated website,
www.marylandday.org will be up and
running soon, with the latest information
about Maryland Day 2009, a place to
share photos and memories, and Four Rivers’ first blog!
Heritage Area Awards Eight New Mini-Grants
Four Rivers: The Heritage Area of
Annapolis, London Town
& South County
This matching mini-grants program, made possible for the sixth
year through financial support from the City of Annapolis, Anne
Arundel County, and the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority, leverages other funding to assist local heritage related non-profit organizations create new programs, activities and events that build
upon interpretive themes in the state, county and city-approved
heritage area Management Plan, foster collaborative partnerships,
and enhance local cultural historic resources and heritage tourism.
FY2009 awardees include:
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Board of Directors
Patricia Barland, Chair
Matthew Grubbs, Vice Chair
Timothy Connolly, Treasurer
Donna C. Hole
Melanie Teems
Coordinating Council
Patricia Blick
City of Annapolis
Linnell Bowen
Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts
Judith Cabral
Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Foundation
Connie Del Signore
Annapolis & Anne Arundel County
Conference & Visitors Bureau
Roberta Dorn
Shady Side Rural Heritage Society
Richard Franyo
Eastport Target Investment Zone
John Guild
Historic Annapolis Foundation
Alexis Henderson
Anne Arundel Economic
Development Corporation
Anson Hines, Ph.D.
Smithsonian Environmental
Research Center
Jeff Holland
Annapolis Maritime Museum
Ann Jensen
Sands House Foundation
Gertrude Makell
Galesville Heritage & Community Org.
Michael Miron
City of Annapolis
Honorable Ellen Moyer
Mayor, City of Annapolis
Diane Nowak-Waring, APR
Crosby Marketing Communications
Wendi Perry
Banneker-Douglass Museum
Jean Russo, Ph.D.
Annapolis History Consortium
Honorable William H. Sanders III
Mayor, Highland Beach
Donna M. Ware
Historic London Town & Gardens
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Annapolis Maritime Museum, for an exhibit entitled “Over The
Bridge,” illustrating Eastport’s unique community and its relationship to the waterways that surround it through photography and historic artifacts.
Anne Arundel County Trust for Preservation, in partnership
with The Lost Towns Archaeology Project for redesign and upgrade of the Lost Towns website, including cutting-edge technology to keep visitors informed of current and past projects.
Charles Carroll House, for a lecture series entitled, “Charles Carroll – Out of Place in the 21st Century?” in conjunction with an
essay contest for local students.
Friends of the Maryland State Archives, for an interpretive brochure for visitors to the Maryland State House in Annapolis illuminating the building’s historical and architectural significance.
Historic Annapolis Foundation, in partnership with the Banneker-Douglass Museum and the Wiley H. Bates Legacy Center,
for a day-long Black History Month seminar featuring local historians and musical performances.
Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Foundation, for the development and
production of a photographic tribute booklet on the Kunta
Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial
St. John’s College, for a multi-media initiative, online exhibit,
and forum to be held at the Banneker-Douglass Museum on
the desegregation of the school entitled “The Magnificent
Seven,” and featuring recorded interviews, photographs, and
archival material
The United States Lighthouse Society, for development of an
interpretive plan for exhibits at the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse and at the Annapolis Maritime Museum about this National Historic Landmark.
Enjoy the Best Four Rivers Has to
Offer ... from a New Perspective
Think you’ve seen everything there is
to see in the Heritage Area? We have
some suggestions for those of you looking for a new experience, or a new
twist on old favorites! Check out this
space in future newsletters for “hidden
history” features, events, or places to
visit.
Staff
Carol Benson, Executive Director
Aleithea Williams, Heritage Programs
Coordinator
Take a look at the photo to the right—
can you identify this monument?
The answer appears on page 3!
Exploring New Technology in
Four Rivers
In Development: Four Rivers’ “Umbrella
Technology Initiative,” Including Additions
to the Website and a new micro-site —
MarylandDay.org
What is the Four Rivers’ Umbrella Technology
Initiative, you ask? This initiative will allow
each of Four Rivers’ partner sites and organizations to post their own content, such as
their logo, event announcements, news articles, press releases, podcasts, and even video
links directly onto the “Partner Pages” on
Four Rivers’ website. This initiative will showcase the cutting-edge technology on our
Heritage Area’s outstanding network of historic, cultural, and natural resource partners.
Four Rivers’ new brochure, which will be
printed in the coming months, will also be
available online as an interactive map and
guide. Visitors will be able to click on the
map for information about individual sites.
With Maryland Day 2009 only three months
away, Four Rivers has obtained the web URL
“www.MarylandDay.org” to post up-to-date
information about the day as events are
added, including a list of participants and
what they are offering for the day, a geocaching hunt for treasure seekers, and a blog
for those interested in posting what Maryland
Day means to them or how much fun they
had!
Techno-speak:
1.
Podcast: an audio or video file available
through websites to download to your computer or other media player to which user can
sometimes subscribe - like a magazine
2. Video link: A link on your own website to a
video hosted on another website, like Youtube,
thus saving space on your own
3. Geocaching: An outdoor treasure-seeking game
for adults and children usually using a GPS or
other tracking device
4. Blog: Short for “web log”, an online diary maintained by an individual or group usually posting events, commentary, observations, art and
media, or anything that strikes the writer’s
fancy!
Do you have ideas for how new and innovative
technology could help Four Rivers serve its
stakeholders and the community?
Let us hear it! E-mail us at
[email protected] or call Carol or
Aleithea at (410) 222-1805.
Four Rivers Welcomes Melanie Teems
to Board
The Board of Directors of Four Rivers Heritage Area
welcomes new
member Melanie
M. Teems to the
Board. Melanie is
the Associate Director of Finance
and Administration
for the Chesapeake Bay Trust, a nonprofit grantmaking organization dedicated to restoration and
protection of the Chesapeake Bay. She has
worked with the Trust since 1992 making recommendations on grant funding, overseeing accounting and audit functions, collaborating with other
foundations on funding partnerships, and participating in strategic planning, fundraising, and special initiatives. She serves on the Working Group of
the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network of the
National Park Service, and represents the Trust to
the Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers.
Melanie joins the Board after serving for two years
as an active member of the Four Rivers Coordinating Council.
Of her vision for Four Rivers, Melanie says: "When
partnerships are created between funders, sites,
and organizations, the Four Rivers Heritage Area
can expand programs and provide even greater
value to the cultural, artistic, and environmental
awareness of the community." Welcome Melanie,
and thanks for your dedication and support!
Answer to Photo Identification on page 2: The hand on shoulder pictured here is a
section of the Maryland Fallen Firefighters Memorial located adjacent to
the corner of Bladen and Calvert Streets in downtown Annapolis. The
memorial, designed by Rodney Carroll of Baltimore and dedicated in
2006, includes the names of nearly 400 fallen firefighters and emergency
workers from Maryland. The sculptures depict these heroes and their
friends and family left behind.
The Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Foundation
Commemorates the Arrival of Kunta Kinte in Annapolis in 1767
On September 29, 2008, city officials and dignitaries gathered at the Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley
Memorial on City Dock in Annapolis at noon to commemorate the arrival of Kunta Kinte and
nearly 100 other African slaves on the cargo ship, the Lord Ligonier, 241 years ago to the day.
Annapolis Alderman Sam Shropshire spoke on the recent
legislation that apologized for the City’s role in the slave
trade of the 18th and 19th centuries. Christopher Haley, ReAttendees disperse rose petals
search Director for the History of Slavery in Maryland at the into
the City Dock waters.
Maryland Archives, and nephew of the late Pulitzer Prize- Photo by Aleithea Williams.
winning author of Roots, Alex Haley, invited attendees to
disperse rose petals into the waters at the dock in the spirit of reconciliation. Julius
Haley, the brother of the late Alex Haley, was also in attendance. The Kunta KinteChristopher Haley, Julius Haley, and Sam
Alex Haley Foundation is the premier site for African American genealogical research
Shropshire attended the Ceremony on Septemin the region. It is open to the public by appointment. Visit www.kintehaley.org for
ber 29. Photo by Aleithea Williams.
more information.
Does “This Place Matter” to You?
Let’s Get Four Rivers Sites on the Map!
(And on the Web!)
Wiley H. Bates Center Opens Its Doors
If you haven’t yet heard of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s “This Place Matters” initiative,
take a minute to check out this truly remarkable
program (visit www.preservationnation.org and click
on “This Place Matters” toward the bottom of the
screen). Anyone can submit any place, anywhere,
that matters to them. All you have to do is print out
the “This Place Matters” sign, take a photo of someone holding it at your favorite place, and submit it
directly to the NTHP. You can even send them a link
to videos you have posted on Youtube.com.
Tell the world about the places in Four Rivers that
matter to you - we will even email you a copy of the
sign to print out at home!
Four Rivers Heritage Area welcomes its newest
heritage partner site: the Wiley H. Bates Legacy
Center on Smithville St. in Annapolis, which
opened to the public on September 6, 2008. The
Legacy Center offers permanent and traveling exhibits, tours, conducts oral history interviews, and
promotes research opportunities for the public. Its
current exhibit, “Trails, Tracks, Tarmacs: The History and Culture of African Americans in Northern
Anne Arundel County, 1850 to the Present,” will be
open through September 2009. Hours are Tuesday—Saturday, 10 am—3 pm and Sundays by appointment.
For more information, please call 410-263-1860 or
e-mail [email protected].
Four Rivers is a 501 (c) 3, charitable non-profit organization, and
your contributions are tax-deductible. Your year-end contribution
supports the heritage sites and organizations that make a difference
to our region’s quality of life.
Four Rivers: The Heritage Area of Annapolis,
London Town & South County
Arundel Center, 44 Calvert Street, Annapolis, MD 21401
Ph/Fax: 410-222-1805 ● [email protected]
www.fourriversheritage.org