Sugarland Ethnohistory Project

Team Slavery Inventory Database (SID) went on a fabulous #fieldtripfriday! We are so grateful to Kenny Sholes of the Montgomery County, Maryland Historic Ag Reserve for being our guide and leading us to some fantastic places. First stop was the historic Black community of Sugarland where we met descendants Gwendora Hebron Reece & Suzanne R. Johnson. We were also joined by Jeff Sypeck and Glenn Wallace Weitz. All four are members  of the Sugarland EthnoHistory Project and authors of ‘I Have Started for Canaan: The Story of the African American Town of Sugarland’. It was really exciting to see a group of descendants and community members come together to tell the story of this small yet hugely important community. And I say hugely important because all of these small, dwindling, historic Black communities were our backbones. They were here, on the land, long before any 20th century development and in some cases already established prior to the Civil War. We were so happy to have spent some time with these folks. 

Historic Warren Cemetery

Our final stop on #fieldtripfriday was to the historic African American Warren Cemetery. This cemetery is a perfect example of Black history hidden in the margins. Spaces, often sacred spaces are carved out in the margins of our landscapes. They are hard to find, hard to see, yet, they are everywhere. 

We are so glad to have made new friends today and learned about all sorts of projects that people are doing. This is what #fieldtripfriday is all about: meeting new friends, seeing new sites, learning new things and making connections that enable all of us to better advocate for those who no longer can. -Maddy, Simone & Chris 

Historic Smithfield at Virginia Tech

The original enslaved structure was removed to said location (adjacent to big house) from a contingent family farm. No idea if original enslaved structure was in this location. Interesting side profile...