The Frederick Douglass Honor Society, the Town of Easton, Talbot County Government, and Talbot County Free Library are pleased to announce their annual Frederick Douglass Day celebration will take place on Saturday, September 25, 2021. This virtual event is brimming with awe-inspiring creativity, world-wide participation, and an abundance of history, entertainment, and fun for people of all ages.

The story of Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) is immensely inspiring as his life embodies the American dream of surmounting immense obstacles to achieve greatness. His many triumphs changed the way the nation regarded oppression and equality. An abolitionist, statesman, and self-educated man, Frederick Douglass became one of the most prominent Americans of his time. He was a masterful writer, world-famous orator, an advisor to presidents, U.S. Marshall, Ambassador, Bank President, and the first African American to have his name placed in nomination as a presidential candidate for the United States.  Douglass’s publications and speeches influenced the adoption of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Constitutional Amendments, known as the Reconstruction Amendments.

More than most, Frederick Douglass was the author of his life, educating himself, planning and effecting his escape from slavery, and creating his subsequent career as an abolitionist and advocate for equal rights for all oppressed people. His lifetime spanned the Civil War, the end of slavery, and the beginning of segregation. His legacy is timeless – a man for all seasons whose writings to this day inspire people around the world.  He is far and away Talbot County’s most famous native son. 

A broad-shouldered man with wide-set eyes and a deep and memorable voice, Frederick Douglass stood six feet, two inches tall. He was a devoted father and family man. He and his first wife, Anna Murray Douglass, raised three sons and a daughter. Their children worked closely with Douglass as educators, printers, and business correspondents. Anna played many roles, including accomplished chef, business manager, and anti-slavery campaigner. She was also an important conductor on the Underground Railroad. Financially savvy, Anna saved enough money to finance Frederick Douglass’s escape to New York, wearing a sailor uniform she sewed for him for his disguise. 

Twelve years ago, the Town of Easton and the Frederick Douglass Honor Society formed a partnership to bring the Frederick Douglass statue project to a successful conclusion. Over the following eighteen months, they approved a sculptor, secured a permanent location for the statue, and planned a four-day celebration known as “Douglass Returns”. Overwhelming financial support was received from the community, state government and agencies, and generous donors from near and far. Ten years ago this year, on June 18, 2011, the statue of Frederick Douglass was unveiled before a crowd of more than 3,000.  Dr. David Blight of Yale and former Governor Martin O’Malley spoke about the depth of Douglass’s courage, the significance of his life, his messages that have withstood the test of time, and his lifelong fight for justice.  The impact of Douglass’s fight for equality and justice holds a permanent place in America’s history, one that all visitors are reminded of when they catch sight of his statue on the courthouse lawn. 

The virtual event, which goes live at 10 a.m. online at www.FrederickDouglassHonorSociety.com or www.FrederickDouglassDay.com , features four main components:  a Welcome Ceremony with Mistress of Ceremonies Brenda Wooden, President of the Frederick Douglass Honor Society, a libation ceremony led by Harriette Lowery, the Morgan State University Choir, Dr. David Blight, Governor Larry Hogan, Terron Quailes, Rabbi Peter Hyman, Phylicia Rashad, former Governor Martin O’Malley, Professor John Stauffer, Mayor Robert Willey, Talbot County Councilman Corey Pack, Talbot County Free Library Director Dana Newman, Talbot County Public Schools Assistant Superintendent Helga Einhorn, Cameron McCoy, Brandon Coleman, and recollections from the “Douglass Returns” celebration.  

The Talbot County Free Library (11 AM) highlights Kenneth Morris, Jr. (Co-founder and President of the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives) sharing his story about Anna Murray Douglass, his great-great-great grandmother. Laura Era, local artist, teacher and owner of Troika Gallery will unveil her portrait in oils of Anna Murray Douglass. The portrait will be presented to Director Dana Newman and donated to the Talbot County Free Library. Following the unveiling, Dr. David Blight (Director of the Gilder-Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition), Dr. John Stauffer (Sumner R. and Marshall S. Kates Professor of English and of African and African-American Studies, Harvard University) and Dr. Celeste-Marie Bernier (Professor of U.S. and Atlantic Studies, University of Edinburgh) will review one of each other’s published books about Frederick Douglass.  

The Children’s Village (11 AM) provides great entertainment for young children including free Frederick Douglass coloring books, a map game showing where Frederick Douglass lived and traveled, story time with Shauna Beulah, Talbot County Free Library- St. Michaels Branch Librarian, Zoom background, memes and opportunities to win fun experience based prizes from a visit to the Maryland Zoo Baltimore to the National Aquarium, a ride aboard the Oxford Bellevue Ferry, membership to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, gift certificates and more.   

The Frederick Douglass Honor Society invites you to virtually join them at 11:30 AM as they introduce their new video “The World Honors Frederick Douglass”. This film brings together people and places across our nation and abroad paying homage to Frederick Douglass and the footprints he has left over the past two centuries. 

The 2021 Frederick Douglass Lecture features Historian and Pulitzer Prize Winner Dr. David Blight and Keidrick Roy, a PhD Candidate in American Studies at Harvard University. The virtual lecture will go live at 1 PM. Following the lecture, questions can be presented to Dr. Blight and Keidrick Roy on the Frederick Douglass Facebook page.  

At sunset on the evenings of September 24 and September 25, a special illumination of Frederick Douglass images will be shown on the front of the Talbot County Court House. The presentation is provided by Patrick Rogan, a designer of exhibitions for museums. His firm, Assemble, works with institutions to share compelling stories through images and other multimedia tools. 

Last year, thousands of people visited our virtual Frederick Douglass Day events. Favorable comments were received from around the globe. “With so many viewers enjoying our 2020 Virtual Frederick Douglass Day celebration, the Frederick Douglass Honor Society will make all components of this year’s event viewable on our website for the next eleven months”, said Brenda Wooden, President of the Frederick Douglass Honor Society.    

All events, timeline, and virtual instructions can be viewed at www.FrederickDouglassDay.com and www.FrederickDouglassHonorSociety.com.  The virtual event is made possible by the Talbot County Arts Council, Maryland Arts Council, Paul and Joanne Prager, Blue Point Hospitality, Rise Up Coffee, The Town of Easton, Bay Photographic Works, Dr. Dodson House, the Star Democrat, Dock Street Foundation, Mr. & Mrs. Herb Miller, Mr. & Mrs. Richard Tilghman, Mr. & Mrs. Tom Hill, Jennifer Stanley, Queenstown Bank, and other community donors. 

Like many communities throughout the country, the summer can be an essential time for young students to catch up on critical cognitive skills in order to be on equal footing with their peers by the fall. That is certainly true on the Mid-Shore as children take advantage of a special STEM Camp in Talbot County for 1st through 5th-grade youngsters.

What might be more unique with this camp is that the instructors are all area high school students. And that might be part of the special sauce that makes this summer school fun as well as successful for some 30 students every year.

These older students not only can relate well to their young wards while studying tough subjects like math and science; they actually run every aspect of the camp.

From developing the curriculum, working out field trips, or deciding the meals, a core group of 30 staff comes together to make the four-day program one of the most memorable experiences for their younger peers. But another part of this magical formula is that those older kids are learning as well.

Given the responsibility (and the risks associated with it) of running a full-scale program from soup to nuts, these teens find within themselves core leadership skills that are just as impactful life lessons as those they provide to the smaller children.

The Spy sat down the other day three of those young leaders last week to talk about the program. This included rising senior Will Burgess, who developed the camp’s curriculum plan, and his colleagues Damian René and Banchi Short, to share their impressions of this year’s program.

This video is approximately three minutes in length. For more information about the STEM Camp, please contact its volunteer advisor Bob DeGour here. 

As children develop, they look to the people in their lives to help them figure out who they are. With authentic feedback that focuses on their positive traits, children can develop strong self-esteem. Most likely this will align with their intuitive sense of who they are and who they would like to become. Growing up and filtering positive, constructive feedback from the hurtful words of others, particularly from peers is really hard.

It can be really challenging to parent when other people are mean to our children. How do you teach a child to navigate situations when their “friends” say things that are mean? As we all have experienced, those moments in our lives can be absolutely crushing. At Radcliffe Creek School and in our homes, we try to create a nurturing environment where this doesn’t happen. The reality is that kids can be unkind to each other anywhere and this is difficult to prevent despite our very best efforts. Therefore, it is important to help children build their coping skills. As we know, they can benefit from explicit instruction and help in processing a difficult situation.

Here are some of the tools we need to utilize as parents to help our children feel strong and competent.

-Be an active listener. Provide a safe space for your child to be able to talk about what is going on. This is easier said than done. The situation can feel really awful to your child, no matter how minor you may perceive the situation to be. Sometimes, their perspective may be skewed. Nevertheless, it is still hard to see your child in pain and not want to rush in and try to fix it. Take a deep breath and say, “I am glad you are telling me about what happened. I am here to listen and help if you need me to.”

-Frame the conversation with these questions:

Can you tell me what happened?

Has this happened before?

How did you react? How do you wish you reacted?

Were there other people around? How did they react?

How can your friends or adults be more helpful to you?

What can I do to help you?

-Try hard not to overreact because your child needs to feel like they are capable of working through the situation. When parents get really upset and take away a child’s ability to process, plan, and navigate the situation, your child will lose their sense of competency in dealing with these scenarios. Curse creatively in another room, call a good friend and vent to them about how angry you are at this kid who is making your child miserable. Do not involve your child in that conversation. They should not have to handle your emotions when they are trying to regulate their own. Your children need to know that you believe they will get through this.

-Brainstorm together why your child thinks they were being teased. If you can come up with ideas on why the other kid might be teasing your child, it could help you to create a plan together. Perhaps the other child is:

seeking attention

displaying what the teasing child may experience or what they see on social media

trying to gain a sense of superiority because they don’t feel good about themselves

looking for peer acceptance by putting someone else down

has a misunderstanding of differences

Supporting your children and helping them develop functional coping skills to navigate difficult interactions is difficult. Perhaps they may need other people besides their family to help them solidify these skills. Consider involving counselors, speech and language pathologists, teachers, mentors, administrators, and coaches.

Justin Thomas Nash, a 22-year-old from Smyrna, Delaware, has won the 2021 Sophie Kerr Prize, the largest undergraduate literary prize in the nation. He was among six finalists considered for the prize, worth $65,580 this year. 

Named after an Eastern Shore author who made her fortune in New York writing women’s fiction during the 1930s and 1940s, the Sophie Kerr Prize is awarded each year to the graduating senior demonstrating the best potential for future achievement in a literary endeavor. The first Sophie Kerr Prize was awarded in 1968. Since then, the endowment has provided more than $2.3 million in prize money to promising young writers, and brought to campus many of the nation’s top writers. 

Justin Thomas Nash

This year’s winner is an English major with three minors (journalism, publishing & editing; communication & media studies; and art & art history), Justin Nash came to Washington College through the Cherry Tree Young Writers’ Conference, attending two conferences before enrolling in the fall of 2017.

During his four years at WC, he has held a number of literary positions, including editor-in-chief of the campus literary magazine Collegian, and the liberal arts journal Washington College Review. He has been senior poetry reader for Cherry Tree: A National Literary Magazine @ Washington College, vice president of the Writers’ Union, and a member of both the Cater Society of Junior Fellows and Sigma Tau Delta, the honor society for English majors. He was awarded the William Warner Prize for Writing about Nature earlier this spring.

In addition to his internships with Cherry Tree, Nash has held two distinguished internships in the writing and publishing world. Last summer, he interned for 24 Pearl Street, and the summer before that he interned for Copper Canyon Press, the country’s leading independent poetry publisher. 

The poems, stories, and essays in his portfolio, collectively titled Prestidigitate, examine travel, childhood, and conceit through manipulated address and formal play, and greatly impressed the faculty members tasked with choosing a single winner from a pool of talented writers.

 “The Sophie Kerr Committee describes Justin Nash as the consummate literary citizen, notes Sean Meehan, chair of the Department of English and director of the Sophie Kerr Endowment. “Justin grasps the power of writing to move the world, one thoughtful and witty and well-edited line at a time. As a student who has actively worked on every campus publication, with unparalleled editorial skills and instincts, and incredible generosity in supporting his peers and our programs, Justin already has a deep understanding of writing as both a profession and a calling. The Sophie Kerr Prize is awarded to the senior with greatest promise for ‘future fulfillment in the field of literary endeavor.’ Among an incredibly strong field of writers this year, and particularly the talented group of finalists we hear read Friday evening, the Committee believes Justin’s promise is unbounded. We will all be hearing more in years to come from this leader and explorer of the literary landscape.”

James Allen Hall, associate professor of English and director of the Rose O’Neill Literary House who created the Cherry Tree Young Writers’ Conference Nash first attended, has known Nash since even before he enrolled at Washington College.

 “He has proven himself to be an incredible literary talent, with particular strengths in poetry and creative nonfiction writing but also in editing and publishing,” notes Hall. “In his first year, he wrote an essay that was nominated for the Norton Writer’s Prize and which was runner-up and published on Norton’s website. About that essay, the judges wrote that Justin ‘uses an innovative form, imagery, and dialogue to create an evocative piece that helps readers reflect on bodies, identity, and control.’ 

“Justin builds work of incredibly imaginative richness and rigorous structural integrity. His writing echoes literary forbears like Robert Frost and Louise Glück in lines like these: ‘I want to know // which thing to take solace in: that someone/ mends the fence, or that they will not try forever.’ There’s also a deep awareness of contemporary writers as well, especially in his more formally daring work that employ echoes of Jericho Brown and Franny Choi. And yet Justin’s voice never sounds like anyone else. He is making it all new—whether he’s writing about rural landscapes, or about guns, or about the ways in which our bodies are policed. Justin’s writing is urgent and refined, restrained but revelatory. We are meeting him at the beginning of a great career.”

After graduating, Nash intends to take a gap year before pursuing an MFA in poetry.