Upcoming Events

April Lunch and Learn: Exploring Pocomoke Country: The History of the Indigenous People of the Lower Eastern Shore

Hear Norris Howard, Jr., Pocomoke Council Member and Tradition Bearer, speak on the history of the Pocomoke Indian Nation.. This talk will touch on European contact as well as the paramount relationships among sub-tribes or bands in the Pocomoke Homelands, including the Annemessee, Quindocqua, Morumsco, Gingoteague, and Mananoakin tribes. He will also describe interactions between the Pocomoke and the colonial governments of Maryland and Virginia, and the subsequent treaties which they signed. Shown here is a 1722 treaty between the Pocomoke and the colony of Maryland.

Norris "Buddy" Howard, Jr., lineal descendant of a Pocomoke Person, is a Council Member and Tradition Bearer for the Pocomoke Indian Nation, Inc. An alumnus of Wor-Wic Technical Community College and Salisbury University, he is a retired investigator for the Maryland Office of the Public Defender, where he served from 1983 to 2023.

He has presented on the Indigenous history of the Pocomoke Nation at numerous events, including the National Folk Festival, the Maryland Folk Festival, McDaniel College, Frostburg University, Salisbury University, Delmarva Discovery Museum, Pocomoke River State Park, Janes Island State Park, as well as schools and other local events on the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland.

He has collaborated on several statewide projects including Indigenous Maryland and the Maryland State Arts Council's Land Acknowledgement Project. He currently serves as a commissioner on the Maryland Commission on Indian Affairs. At this event, he is speaking on behalf of his Tribal Community, the Pocomoke Indian Nation.

May Lunch and Learn: Wonderland Park: Exploring an African-American-Founded Amusement Park and Entertainment Venue in Baltimore City, 1920-1934

Join Hannah Lane and explore Wonderland Park, an amusement park and jazz music and social dance venue that operated between 1920 and 1934 in Baltimore City. In addition to offering a historical overview of this largely forgotten leisure space, Lane will share insights into how Wonderland came to be and the motivations of those involved in its creation, as well as the parks place in Baltimore's Black communities and in the larger entertainment landscape of Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic region.

Hannah Lane is a graduate of Goucher College (2018) and works in the Maryland State Archives' Study of the Legacy of Slavery department. In addition to focusing on the institution of slavery in Maryland and the social and political lives of African Americans prior to Abolition, Hannah has a strong interest in the history of jazz music and dance in Maryland and beyond. Currently she is working on her project, “Queens of the Nightclub,” focusing on shake dancers, primarily Black, Latinx, and queer artists who performed to jazz music in night clubs, dance halls, and theatre stages across America from the 1920s to the 1960s.