A revealing of history at its finest and its most tragic.

The Commodore Collection contains approximately 2,000 pages, 100 pages of which document aspects of African American life from the late 1600s to the early 1800s. These original manuscripts from the 18th and 19th centuries, found in the attic of a house close to Chestertown, unlock a slice of local history that centers on people whose descendants still live in this area.

Join author and Washington College professor Michelle Johnson to hear the story of her new book, A Man's Mark, illustrated by local artists, Samuel Moore and Stuart Gray, which was inspired by a document from the Commodore Collection.

As part of the process of preserving the Commodore Collection, multiple organizations have collaborated to also make this piece of history accessible to the public through preservation, digitization, and the creation of a variety of teaching and exploration tools. This event is also an opportunity to explore the customized Teacher Trunk, which is available for use in classrooms, and learn about the companion exhibit that is being created to showcase the Commodore Collection and its importance to local history.

Funding for the Commodore Collection has been provided by the Institute for African American History and Culture and the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority.

Event Sponsors

This talk is co-sponsored by Sumner Hall; the Department of Education at Washington College; the Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, Washington College; and Kent County Public Library.

Speaker Bio

L. Michelle Johnson is the Elementary Field Experience Coordinator in the Education Department at Washington College where she is a Lecturer and Administrator of Teacher Certification. She is also a K-8 curriculum content writer and has produced content for AVENTA Learning, Pearson, and Wisewire. She focuses on building student reading and thinking skills through learning content knowledge that connects students to their community and the world around them.   

The Commodore Collection

The Commodore Collection belongs to Sumner Hall and is being conserved and archived at Washington College’s Miller Library.

Learn about the collection

View the digitized collection