 Hello, everyone. My name is Kendra Parson and I am the moderator for this panel. I would like to kick off our session by introducing you to the National Trusts Initiative Documenting Chesapeake Watershed Sites and Landscapes Important to African Americans or the Chesapeake Mapping Initiative The Chesapeake Mapping Initiative is part of the work of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund So the Chesapeake Mapping Initiative is a multi-year phased initiative that 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 and protected It will also lay the groundwork for future mapping efforts for African American historic places by assessing the effectiveness of different project approaches to identify best practices and by engaging directly with communities to establish collaborative relationships for ongoing work A direct result of the initiative will be to upload data on the places identified to state-level cultural resource information systems GIS based databases for collecting information on historic resources that are managed by state historic preservation offices Mapping makes it possible to update conservation priorities and collaborate with landowners and communities on protection and preservation efforts Mapping data can also be used by infrastructure project developers to identify historic resources during early project development phases So that negative impacts to the sites can be avoided and minimized It can also generate information that could be the basis for new or expanded interpretive initiatives Phase one big mapping initiative has been ongoing since 2020 Phase one includes distinct pilot projects that are currently underway in Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania The pilot the pilot projects were designed to respond to the survey priorities of each state And each project was also designed to include community outreach and consultation as part of the scope of work Broadly the three pilot projects are in Virginia survey and documentation of sites associated with African American watermen In Maryland a review of existing records to identify Missing information pertaining to African American history and documented historic sites in Calvert, Tend and Somerset counties And in Pennsylvania a crowdsourcing based effort covering nine south-central counties Which is a complement to the pennsylvania state historic preservation offices baseline survey effort 2020 to 2024 Which kicked off in 2020 with a particular focus on identifying African American churches and cemeteries During the remainder of the session we will hear about each of these pilot projects in more detail from some of the consultants who are engaged in this work I would like to acknowledge the national trust many partners and funders to this work Including the national park service chest bay office The virginia department of historic resources the maryland historical trust The pennsylvania historical museum commission the pennsylvania department of conservation and natural resources Chesapeake conservation partnership Finally, I'm also glad to share that the national trust is currently playing for a phase two of the chesapeake mapping initiative That will build on techniques developed during the phase one pennsylvania pilot and expand crowdsourcing to other areas of the watershed Work on phase two is anticipated to kick off later in 2022 So now that we have a little introduction to this work I am pleased to turn the presentation over to kayla halber to tell us more about work that is ongoing in virginia Hello everyone. My name is kayla halber. I'm a project manager with commonwealth preservation group based in north virginia We are One firm of many firms that are working on an initiative to document Sites associated with african-american watermen and virginia's chesapeake bay So just to give a start with a broad overview of our project we Our scope of work includes public engagement dive a little bit more into that next Survey of approximately a hundred resources spread out over three broad regions of the virginia chesapeake bay area development of a multiple property document One national register nomination As well as recommendations for future work So as I mentioned our team is large and in part because it's a large project with many components and over a large geographic area So our our group is a collaborative group of historians and scholars historic preservationists community planners from two different historic preservation consulting firms and cultural resource management firms As well as an independent scholar and african-american history scholar The primary firm is commonwealth preservation group where I work And In addition to overall project management. We work on survey research and outreach In preparation of the npd and the national register nomination We split the survey and field work with rk and k and their team And we also worked with jeffrey free harris and independent historian who's local in hampton roads virginia To do outreach and research for our project So public engagement was a really critical component of our project design From the get-go and we kicked off Our our virtue with a virtual public meeting in september of 2021 This wasn't necessarily what we'd hoped for Of course as everyone is aware. COVID-19 had significant impacts on our public engagement strategy and our plans for that We had hoped to do several History days where we would go out to the community and be able to bring people In and do broad public outreach that way but instead we Went with a virtual public engagement routes We did one public meeting in september as i mentioned and then we also provided an online comment form Through the virginia department of historic resources website And they also managed a website with information where Folks could get additional information on the project and fill out this form We received approximately 15 responses from our form And from this we developed a list multi-tabbed spreadsheet Of organizations individuals Used our existing connections as well as folks who answer the comment form To create a list for for outreach And from there we essentially Cold called As many people as we could We e-mailed Facebook messaged Otherwise contact of people talked to folks on the street And i would say we reached out to At least 75 individuals or organizations and quite possibly more Over the course of several months And these contacts informed our survey site selection as well as our research for the npd Sometimes our public engagement was done in the field As you all know sometimes when you're out in the field folks are asking questions about what you're working on And often as a part of the survey we were having to get a lot closer to resources that we typically do So that put us into close contact with property owners With employees of businesses And then we were able to engage with people that way and meet additional contacts Sometimes that also resulted in us getting addresses or Being shown oh we pull out our tablet and they point out on a map Another place we should go check out and talk to us about why we should go there Local historical organizations that were also instrumental in helping us identify survey sites The eastern shore watermouth museum for example sent us k and l files that we were able to Upload into google earth And add those sites to our survey lists. So we had actual pins we could use Um That was a rare occurrence oftentimes we were getting addresses or sort of well along this creek There was a place where we would Uh load off our hall and so we were often hand drawing maps Um and sending those back to our contacts. And is this the point? so we were really doing this sort of In a mix of different ways using Technology when we could but also sort of meeting people where they were So that we could get the best information possible So our survey as I mentioned focused on three specific regions of the virginia chest peak bay And those included the eastern shore of virginia the middle peninsula and the northern neck and total 11 counties We did not do specific survey work in the haunted roads area, but we do Have a list of sites for future work that we think will be important for adding to to this project later All in all we visited 103 properties But we we recorded and documented in the virginia cultural resource information system 84 resources The gap there was largely due to loss of integrity And in many cases demolition of historic resources In other cases we we went out to sites that had been mentioned to us, but ultimately we weren't able to document an association with african-american watermen So we decided not to include those in our Our final set of survey deliverables We uncovered a range of different types of resources from marine vessels marinas boat landings docks warfs marine railways Seafood processing facilities like oyster houses and oyster shucking facilities As you can see sort of centrally located here That was a resource type that we weren't expecting to uncover But now is quite identifiable to our survey team here We also surveyed community resources like churches schools social organizations and small businesses Residential resources the homes of prominent african-american watermen as well as historic districts So the multiple multiple property document the purpose of of preparing the npd as part of this project Is to really nominate a group of related significant properties And an npd In content covers shared themes It organizes that history into historic context The npd also defines property types and designation requirements for resources that represent the historic context The multiple property document Is a cover document that can be used to streamline individual nominations for thematically related resources So this this will serve as an opportunity to help Resources that might not necessarily Individually need criteria or might have a harder time getting listed individually in the national register of historic places An opportunity to tie itself to this historic context And seek designation and listing in the national register of historic places The npd that we've developed we have that we're in draft stages at this point But it is inclusive of the entire bay area Of virginia and from the eastern shore all the way to the western fall lines Topics include contributions of black watermen and water women to the secret industry And the context covers colonial period to the late 20th century Other topics include the industrialization of the seafood industry as well as the socioeconomic impacts To black communities throughout the area And as I mentioned the goal for the npd is to create a path for listing property types That might not otherwise meet the criteria for listing or that have a lesser degree of integrity But are strongly tied to the historic context This approach we think is replicable for those wishing to identify recognize and list other resource types associated with underrepresented communities When we spoke to many local residents local historians and other Watermen who are still working today often they would start off by telling us about individual Black watermen they would mention the name of a person that they knew Someone who taught them the jobs and skills that they need today and reflected on accomplishments of that individual These reflections became a section and probably my favorite section of the npd Dedicated to recognizing the accomplishments and the contributions of individual african-american watermen These individuals were notable figures in their community. They kept in vessels. They built boats They operated large and small businesses and passed on their skills from one generation to the next Some of these men have been documented in local histories Or by local historians, but most have not For this reason public engagement is really critical and these communities still largely communicate the award of mouth So getting in the community building trust Um and and one um one person at a time and in person is still really critical Something that we've learned um is that this takes time But it's really worth it Um and some of these men we were actually some of the men pictured here We were actually able to uh talk with in person or over the phone and that that really contributed greatly to to our overall project And really this list of folks who will be in and the npd and who are pictured here is just to start We know there are others and um, we hope that the project will continue to identify these notable water men and women Um in the test peak deserving of recognition and research So some of our challenges um for this project we consistently heard from folks that we were 10 years too late I want this meant is that we Have either lost those significant black water men to time or we've lost those resources that have been demolished um redevelopment along the coast is Is rampant and also we're losing some of these resources to natural disasters and sea level rise um So we were consistently hearing that which would you know makes it even more important that we continue this work to document these sites Um Confirming again the sites association with african-american watermen was difficult um These stories are not necessarily documented in the written record anywhere and so again public engagement um was really The way for the most part that we were able to confirm association with um black watermen communities again COVID-19 limited our in-person outreach and our opportunities for conducting oral history interviews And research institutions many of them these small local organizations were either closed Due to COVID due to limited staffing And many of them are also closed due to seasonal operations So we were doing a lot of our research during the winter months And many of these places are open seasonally for tourists So that that was an interesting obstacle we weren't expecting Um, many of these areas also have limited access to internet Especially in more remote areas of the eastern shore and the northern neck Um, and that made we kind of went into that knowing that that was going to make engagement through virtual platforms more difficult Um short project completion period which is often the case when it comes to grant projects Um, we we now have an extension which is was critical for our project But as you'll see in my recommendations When we're doing projects like this that require such extensive public outreach I would really recommend Planning for two to three years for these types of projects And then for our national register nomination, we are still working on getting owner permission and that's something that we think um Is partly tied to education about the national register and what it means and what it doesn't mean um, and also the rate of vacancy Or eras property and so just finding who We need to contact to get owner permission. It has been difficult for individual listing So my other recommendations, um planning for a variety of engagement approaches Again meeting people where they are whether that be virtual in person on the phone local events And then being prepared for impromptu oral history on the street And if anybody has Uh, any questions Or even if you have tips, if you know african-american watermen from the Chesapeake Bay area Or if you have information that would help this project We would um, love to hear from you. Hello. My name is Ruth Shogate. I am a retired librarian from washington college I am now an independent researcher here in 10 county and I've had the privilege of working on the uh, 10 county project on mapping the Chesapeake um african-american history um, this is really a pleasure and I have so far I have um Enjoyed looking at these architecture um and archaeological sites through the lens of african-american history and there's bright enlightenment So in this session, I will focus on connecting um With minority communities to document their history But before that, I will briefly describe the maryland historic trust mapping initiative objective And outcomes as context for outreach activities in county Um, then I will follow up with a more detailed description of community outreach and involvement But let me begin with um First with the map So in 10 county, you can see it's um right across the bay from Baltimore, Samark, and it's located on the eastern shore of Maryland It is uh the smallest county um, uh was incorporated in 1675 The population the 20 20 populations stood at 19 192 and I mentioned that simply because the um Population rate has gone down in 10 county um, and more dramatically so the african-american population um, this is significant over the years as we see the movement of african-americans out of the county And what that the the effect that has had on their their history and in particularly Particularly their property ownership Um, so over the decades they have declined about nine percent Geographically and economically 10 county has always been known for its agricultural and maritime landscape and resources Since the early 1600s Uh, this landscape is the historical and cultural backdrop Of the lived experiences of african-american experience in 10 county So we see that the mapping of african-american history in 10 county Is uh intimately bound to Their original, um, arrival here in 10 county Starting with their, um, arrival as enslaved persons in the mid-60s While the region's vast open lands and resources inspired the pursuit of religious economic and political freedom On the other hand the circumstances led to the rise of enslavement Uh, 10 county was no exception to the effects of slavery and evidently as we think the 10 county is a micro Representation of this historical phenomenon that set the stage for the epic story of an enslaved people And I put that in there as backdrop because as I went through the documents So much of the historic places were tied to slavery And when it comes to community outreach We get a lot of feedback from individuals that you know We're tired of talking about slavery and we just don't want to talk about it anymore But the memories and and the goals of slavery is just very much alive in 10 county And so that presents to us a part of what our community outreach should be And the perspective perhaps That we should approach this topic So, um, we see the story of these enslaved people We still see the juxtaposition of of blacks and whites and so And looking at um the labor and economic prosperity of one group and the slow growth of the other And we look at their sites buildings homes um, and and look at that as a cultural and historical um artifacts and manifestation of our history I think it becomes quite evident and I was um quite enlightened By looking at uh the the documents in the Maryland inventory of historic places And whereas though the slave experience remains a painful topic among blacks and they would rather not talk about slavery um There is in addition to that aspect of life There's also a story of the zillions in the bed individual and collective strength and faith and it is from this perspective that Most of the researchers in 10 county now approach um how we study buildings life and cultural uh significant uh events and um geographic places It is less traumatic people are more open to conversation and they are more Willing to tell their stories within that life um They become quite engaged uh the the personal stories of overcoming achieving ownership Building a community of free persons Provide a good segue to bring in community involvement. So um the work that has been done in 10 county particularly by other organizations Have now used that approach and found it quite effective and I'll talk more about that um And so that's sort of that that we're the epic story of of blacks in 10 county Moves towards that more positive outlook um in the historic buildings and properties and structures including uh say Skip jacks or care evidences of the cultural life of the community Finding african-americans in these spaces was the main objective of the mariland history just the kent county project Our project um for kent county mapping american history Brings the light african-american history with the intention of rooting out and making visible the life experiences of blacks From the early days And some much of which was massed in its historical events and achievements Of prominent landowners and their families So whereas we are now reaching out The african-americans to make that connection From a research perspective One still goes back into most of the writings and historical documentation Of privileged landowners and families Uh and take it from there to find out to get the other side of the story But before reaching out to community uh the mariland historic trust project required an analysis Of the approximately 700 entries in the mariland inventory of historic places in kent county The goal of the mariland historic trust Was to clearly identify the buildings in the inventory That have a connection to african-american history and architecture So using the general concept of content analysis methodology A simple word search was conducted conducted to verify the occurrence of explicit select terms such as slaves slavery blacks colors three three blacks To search with 700 documents Attached to each entry in the inventory of historic properties This was quite a tedious task Going through these 700 documents, you know at some point I thought I'm I can do this in two weeks Well, that that that did not work. Of course. I took a lot more time because Reading through each document or doing a word search doing the word search was very helpful because Once any of those words showed up. I could go directly to the content and see what the references were whether it was that The landowner in his will had freed his slaves or he had Willed them to somebody else or just a simple statement that among his property were 10 or 11 or whatever the number of slaves were and that says Okay, they were on this plantation So we're trying to map the sites of where african-americans were located. It's important to know Where the plantations were or where the landowner's home was so we can see the context actually of the lived experiences of african-americans And so by doing so the data Provided a starting point in the outreach process It can come to documents architectural investigation of buildings and properties owned by blacks and places of work and enslavement So in these documents were listed also a number of Properties that were owned by blacks where they worked Um, they were employed or where they lived if they were freed freed Free blacks of which They were the proportion of freed blacks to enslave blacks was uh considerably higher. So even in the mid mid 1800s There were a number of freed blacks and they were able to successfully build Very nice homes Establish businesses Built churches so you could see where they actually began to establish their own community So Ken county Was the home of of of a significant population of Free african-americans And so in so doing They were able To tell the other side of that story When we look here at um The property descriptions and going through this list of the inventory of historical properties We can see there the number of black churches. There were 21 Listed some of those churches still existed. I was able to visit most of those churches on the last year During legacy day each year we honor And celebrate some aspect of black history and last year was black churches Where they listed the churches there were 25 churches that were over a hundred years old And they were still in existence. So that is um Really good history in it and buildings and they were In the inventory and very well documented As you can see For schools and education There the early segregated schools many of which were Affiliated with the black churches. So pretty much where there were churches There were schools and between the schools and the churches that space also became a community center And a place for gathering and and just socializing now on the enslavement We identified 46. That means there were like 46 entries that mentioned The slaves the number of slaves that were on the plantation However, I would say for further studies um It would be actually more than 46 because there were many that were in the 16 17 1800s before Emancipation that did not mention slaves, but it's known that There were slave owners. So that could also be a follow-up African-american residences As I mentioned before there were Free blacks who had established Their own homes built their own homes and and businesses. But this also includes wherever there was a Community of blacks, so it would cover tenant tenant houses Space boarding houses um And in individual homes personal homes, so The number 16 That's just again from that inventory. So probably most likely That number in reality Is larger social organizations and um That's just mostly the blacks yeah social organizations and Lodges and institutions These are really interesting places Some of them were actually in churches. Some were held in residences But as I mentioned here, they reflect the more joyous moments of social and country life Of blacks in kent county. So they're really worth Looking into further and commerce although the number is Low it says four many were Existed many more Places of business Existed in the black communities Such as the village of morguec olivex and chester Bill forest and millington so For me I've lived in chester town for over 30 years and I've had a chance to volunteer in the community I had the advantage of knowing the local agencies and persons who are done research as also part of that community seeking to Construct and sometimes we construct the history of afghan americans in kent county Because the history of blacks is so inextricably bound to the history of whites Those sources enlighten the understanding of life of life of blacks in kent county And so the the agencies that I did too for Further information beyond the maryland inventory of historic places was the kent county historical society It's a very rich source of documents stories articles written by local people And so I found that very interesting in fact when I go there to to do some work I would leave with more stories Than the actual documents because everybody had a story to tell me did you hear about this? Do you know about that and they just kept bringing out documents after documents? So that's a really great place to go Now sumna hall, which is the grand army of the republic post number 25 that Was renovated and often running on its veterans, but it also acts as a cultural center And we also do some research there. So I found that to be very helpful As a star center for the study of american experience at washington college They have done a tremendous amount of work in african american history The latest project that they have they're working on is almost completed Is a chesapeake heartland and its focus Exclusively on african american history. They have a website where A number of interviews have been done You can always go and and watch the interviews their videos or they're also just recordings Um They are also working on i i think the mapping of some of the his african american historic places In chester town. So that's a really good source of information um I also worked with the washington college history society. They were particularly interested in Washington college's connection to snaven So they they have done some work. It's on their website And the students they they hired they Assigned much of this research to students to conduct those so Again, that was very helpful not just reading the documents, but being a part of Um building out that The content of that website. So that was really good um And there are individuals i found who work really well with um The research they're actually out there doing the research themselves. They're like independent One person resources So there's also a connection to that So in conclusion, I would say that there are There is more work to be done There are areas that Still can be We need more information. We didn't have any documentation on the any stops on the underground railroad There are some more cemeteries we have to do. There was nothing on farming Um, and also they're probably an australian investor. So Um I will close there if anybody has more questions I would be willing and happy to answer So I want to thank the national trust both for inviting me to be a part of this session today As well as to help develop this project over the last few years And I would like to thank kendra for arranging this session for us today and getting us all in here together I also appreciate the assistance of our various project partners who have assisted through funding and institutional support And I want to acknowledge some of the additional members that were a part of our project team Including laura rickets from arkaski engineering and almas ology and rebecca song from uh, wsp They were a big help on this project for me For anyone who's not aware, uh as has Kendra told us at the beginning there are actually two complementary projects under way right now in pennsylvania The first of these is our project crowd sourcing african-american cultural sites in south central pennsylvania project Which is covering adams cumberland doffin franklin folton lancaster lebanon perry at york counties And this project is focused on a wide array of potential historic sites that includes properties that don't typically arise out of traditional background research And we're trying to achieve this through the use of crowd sourcing by listening to the community and asking them to help us identify important stories and places that aren't captured in the mainstream historical record And our project is working in tandem with the baseline survey project Which was begun in 2020 by the pennsylvania state preserve preservation office And as part of that project they are conducting a statewide Baseline survey which focuses in individual counties on identifying properties associated with the african-american experience in pennsylvania Focused primarily on churches and cemeteries, but also including social organizations and Other resources such as the motor at the the green book Census data and mapping resources like sandborn maps to identify african-american historic places in pennsylvania The crowdsourcing african-american heritage sites in south pennsylvania south central pennsylvania project has three primary goals The first of these is that we are trying to engage the african-american community in the process of identifying culturally important sites We want the local community to help to tell us what is important and historically significant rather than the other way around We also hope that this will just be a first step in an ongoing conversation around these historical places You know our project involves basic survey and identification of the places that are brought to our attention But we anticipate that with some local support these places could be further recognized either in their local communities Or or possibly be considered for national register listing We are also using this project to raise awareness of the importance of african-american history as a part of pennsylvania's history And as we've talked to people in the community, we've learned from so many people Uh that have reached out to us that there are lots of local projects that are focused on the identification of important sites of african-american history And we are hoping through this project to both draw more attention to these stories and groups as well as make connections between existing groups Finally, uh, we're we're going to collect the geographic and basic Recreation information about these properties that have been identified to us and we're going to make it available for future planning Through the the pH of those pH shared database, which is their cultural resources gis To support the project's goals, we set up a project website that was designed and hosted through square space Um, we used it as a both a launching point and a clearinghouse for information That we wanted to make sure that we shared with the public throughout the project The website hosts a link to our mapping service It provides a location to collect virtual public meeting registrations and served as a forum to disseminate existing information available from project partners like the pa shipo about their their projects and programs Among the resources that we provided through the website were links to blog posts Both at the national trust about this project and the wider just peak mapping initiative And we also linked to stories and events that seemed like they would be pertinent to the members of the public that we were Reaching out to this included stories from the pa shipos blog about ongoing survey efforts as well as Events that happened during the during the time when we were holding some of our meetings, uh, such as the pennsylvania hallowed grounds Uh annual meeting, uh, which focuses specifically on african-american cemeteries So we made sure that that information was was available And people could find it The primary tool that we used for our project was a wiki mapping site Uh a screenshot of which you can you can see here and and you'll see in more detail in some of the following slides The wiki mapping portal was designed in part with our project partners at wsp They handled both the initial setup as well as the management of the resources on the map throughout the project for us And if anyone is interested in seeing the map, uh, I provided the Website as part of this slide It was still available in its read only format and should be accessible at the website, uh listed So these two images provide a bit more detail reflecting the number of points that have been placed on our map Pink dots on the map consist primarily of known sites in the region that had been previously identified And though these aren't exhaustive, uh, they were designed to really help people visualize the process and to To not land on an empty map When we started the project we didn't want the first few users to to land on our map and and not know where to begin So we wanted to sort of seed seed the map a little bit And then all of the arch dots were were placed by members of the public As you can see there are several dense clusters around cities and boroughs like york lancaster and gettysburg With a a more scattered collection through the region's rural areas You may also notice that there are very few resources located in in some of the rural counties particularly fulton franklin and perry counties Um, that's definitely something that we noticed through the project that we didn't have as much participation from or identification in these more rural counties In the second image, you can see the density of a place, uh, like york city and the the number of Historical points we were able to collect on our map Um, and you can see the geographic distribution of the points Yeah, the concentrations of points clearly denote certain neighborhoods that were african-american And although you can't see from this level several points also reflect the history of the community that has been lost To forces such as urban redevelopment in the mid 20th century So I wanted to briefly just discuss some of the things that we've learned so far through this project As we as we engaged with the public we we definitely noticed there were a few Handful of groups that self-selected and spoke up early and were were deeply involved with the project And from from this group, we really had a long period of activity They were in regular contact with us. They were continually adding information to our map And and providing a lot of resources and also bringing more people, uh, to the project over time On the on the other hand from from most users, we really noticed there was a lull in activity From the time that we originally posted the map We had a brief spur of activity and then again at the very end We had a last-minute rush of activity and even some folks requesting that we keep the map open a little bit longer because They hadn't gotten a chance to add to it yet We had the map initially open for For three months but extended it to a fourth month to make sure that people had the opportunity and the time to To provide a steam clip through the wiki map So we had a total of 136 entries submitted through the wiki map And we only had two counties where we didn't have any entries at all The highest number of properties that have been identified are in New York, Lancaster and Adams counties and these properties really cover Cover the the breadth of the african-american experience in in the south central Pennsylvania region We certainly have had churches and cemeteries identified on the map. We've had underground railroad stops We've had social institutions sites of That were part of the civil rights movement have all been included on our on our map so far The most feedback that we received was really from specific organized local groups and we didn't get as much feedback from individuals or churches And so I just wanted to acknowledge some of the groups that have been have been involved and put a lot of effort into making this a project this project a success for us A few other things that we learned were that there was some pushback and resistance to duplicating Work from some organizations who reached out to us. They'd obviously been doing a lot of work on the ground I didn't want to duplicate their efforts that they put into into research and identification And we also similar to as as kala mentioned Due to covet we were doing all of our meetings virtually and we really felt the need for in-person meetings Which was also expressed to us in our in our follow-up meetings as we've been Um winding down the data collection portion of the project the their members of the public who Really would have liked to have met us in person to talk about the project As of august the remaining work for the project focuses on recording the properties that have been identified to us and making that data That we received available to the pa ship. Oh We'll be surveying using esri products that will allow the information that we collect to be directly entered into the pa ship as gis system due to budgetary constraints if any of the The the properties that were identified to us if we aren't able to survey all of them We'll be compiling a list That will be provided to the pa ship. Oh and our other partners for any possible future survey efforts when time or staffing will allow And after the survey work is complete our final project reporting will be thinking critically about the success of the overall project and providing Recommendations for any improvements that could be made for the future. Um, it sounds like we're definitely Planning to make sure that that we can provide the the best information possible as we as the national trust repairs to go into phase two And we'd like to consider This approach for additional projects in the future So we'll be compiling that information as we head into the fall With that, thank you all for your time and feel free to reach out to me if you have any additional questions about the project I'd be glad to answer them Thank you so so much. Kayla, Ruth and Ben for Sharing more about us about the the work that you've been doing and thank you also for all of that hard work because I know that It's been Quite a bit So we do have a little bit of time now for a brief discussion And I wanted to kick it off with With this question so You know, obviously some of the session right here to speak about documenting the histories of black communities that we are not part of I think we can all acknowledge that the historic preservation field has Work to do to support the development of a more diverse workforce And also that historic preservation requirements can be quite complex, which is a barrier to public participation at times Um, at the same time, of course, there is some urgency to identify The end up with the stories of underrepresented communities to prevent them from being threatened or lost and kala I'm particularly thinking of of you know, what you heard when you were out in the field that I wish you you know, you're 10 years too late Um, so as practitioners, how can we best navigate the the needs to document? Historic services for their protection And also underrepresented communities the some some space to tell their own stories Well, I guess I'll go first if nobody else wants to field this one I think one of the the biggest things we've been able to do through this project is working with local partners I know I noticed that kala was working with uh, is it free? Was this last time Harris? Yeah, working working with local partners who know the history of a place can be really important Um, I know the the folks who reached out to us and were most involved in our project Um, uh, some of them really helped helped make the connections for us Um, you know, we had done a lot of outreach at the beginning But didn't didn't get connected to some of the african-american churches through cold calls and emails um, but they were able Particularly a particularly a woman with the uh, lebanon cemetery association Was able to connect us with other other people within the african-american community Bring them to public meetings as well as get us connected with other folks And so I think those local partners can really make or make or break a project Um, when we're approaching it, uh as as, uh, as the white folks in the room but I would add, um That There's still a significant amount of trust building. I mean, um Folks from our office at cpg. We we feel like we're local um in some ways to many of these communities as well and free here is just local and um our partners at rk and k are in in virginia uh, so closer to some areas than we are but um, even with that there's there's still an important degree of trust building to do And we think that that in any project that we work on, um With underrepresented communities or where we know oral history is going to be necessary Or where we're just talking about difficult history in general Spending the time doing that is really important. Um, and then After we've done that and we've shown up and we've Done the work. Um, just letting The community letting the individuals tell their story. Um, they kind of We're moving any as much as we possibly can right any biases that Uh, we might bring into a project or assumptions that we might have had before we started um on an effort to engage with this community and and You know oftentimes when we do oral histories, especially Uh, when we're listening back to them Uh here in our office Our our person our interviewer is quiet. Uh, we have questions and we come Kind of open-minded, but we just let the community tell their story and a lot of what we've been trying to do with our MPD as well is You know, we we did go into this with assumptions and then recognize those and and restructured the way that we um talked about the communities and talked about the people and made People are really an important focus after hearing from From members of the community so Yeah, I think that just listening and letting communities tell their story the way that um They want it to be told um from from my perspective of um Of storytelling or Also working with other groups. Um, and and basically sometimes they're like You don't understand not me, but It's it's a racial thing Unfortunately, and they will say based on experience and and what you grew up with that Well, you know, white people do you really understand my story? If I tell you my story Um, can you get it from my perspective? So I think really allowing them to to tell their story is one thing um sharing empathy Origins is that you have had yourself Um being either on the fringes or the margins Can really can really help it helps to to build trust to say yes You probably have some idea of of what i'm talking about. So I believe that um Building trust is it's um, not just listening but having that conversation Where where you can also show or explain that yes, I understand that because it mean It may be a different kind of experience But it's one in which you felt Perhaps a little marginalized perhaps your history was not the same as the predominant group you were with and so It begins to show an understanding there of what it is and as as I mentioned that Uh instead of there being so much focus because what happened It was like oh slavery and so much about slavery We shifted that story a little bit because the story of slavery is known It's not a pleasant one And on both sides And so just being able to shift In a little bit to something that is yes, this happened. Um What were the things we went on? What made what made you happy? What were your happiest moments and What we actually found out at least I know I didn't find out I know this is that There is happiness in life Regardless and so they they really feel that oh my mother used to do this or my father or when we lived in the country We did this or did that and you know, so the story becomes it has it has A different sort of nuance and texture To it and and it becomes alive So I think that being able to flip some of those questions into more positive ones and listening and sharing your own experiences will bring them out a lot more Thank you. I think that's that's excellent advice. Um Well, thank you all very much for your your thoughtful answers to that question. We are at an hour So we will wrap up. Uh, thank you again very much for your time and your expertise And thank you to everyone who is taking the time to view this session We are glad to have been able to share with you. Thanks very much