Stories

Summer '24 Smithsonian Institute intern, Syon Lewis, transcribed deeds of manumission that freed formerly enslaved people in Sussex County, Delaware. These records, when combined with other sources like population censuses, allow researchers to better understand the roots of Black communities on the Delmarva Peninsula.

Summer '24 Smithsonian Institute intern, Bria Cooper, began researching the lives of Lizzie and Nat Ambie who escaped along the Underground Railroad in 1857. Through correspondence, escape narratives, and other archival sources, her story demonstrates how research in Enduring Connections can help tell more complete narratives of places like Dorchester County.

In Spring 2024, Salisbury University student Zoe Davis began the monumental project to digitize and transcribe deeds of manumission from Sussex County, Delaware. Her experience offered insight into the meaning of names, especially for formerly enslaved people.

Summer '23 Smithsonian Institute intern, A'Nya Harrison explored correspondence from the Freedmen’s Bureau records at the National Archives, which detailed the essential groundwork that individuals and communities laid for the development of Black schools on the Delmarva Peninsula.

Summer '23 Smithsonian Institute intern, Nandi Smith analyzed the religious trends of Black Americans across the country--and especially on the Delmarva Peninsula--in this story highlighting the Quinn family of Pocomoke City, Maryland in the 19th century.

Using sources made accessible by the Enduring Connections database, researchers can begin to unpack the complex story behind Reverend Tindley’s childhood and family roots that have been elusive until now.

Historical records can provide powerful and robust stories about African Americans' resilience and grit throughout the history of this country. By diving into the family history of a local sports hero like John B. Sample Jr., Summer 2022 Smithsonian Institute intern Asia Bender hopes that people will be empowered and inspired to research their own family history—just like she did during my summer on Delmarva.

In the years after Emancipation, many Black families in the Delmarva region had their children taken away from them and bound into apprenticeships. The story of Martha Brown, a Caroline County woman, personifies what it took to recover your children with help from the Freedmen's Bureau.

The Republic of Liberia in Africa was a colony formed by the United States to relocate freeborn and emancipated Black people as an end to slavery. Former Enduring Connections fellow, Rihana Stevenson, writes about this piece of Delmarva history and the records that support it in this story.

In the summer of 1855, Samuel Miles fled from slavery in Somerset County, Maryland. Using sources in the Enduring Connections database, we can discover more about Miles and other Delmarva families who traveled the Underground Railroad.

Created by Salisbury University graduate history student, Allison Stancil, in her fall 2021 digital humanities internship, this tour has made it easier than ever to trace the footsteps of the past with a walking tour highlighting Salisbury’s Black history.

Many members of Pollitt/Pullett family of Somerset and Wicomico Counties in Maryland made their mark in the region's Black history. Sources from the 19th century help illuminate the lives and legacy of people like Reverend Charles Pullett.