CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

P.O. Box 97 - 14200 Solomons Island Road

Solomons, MD 20688

Traci Cimini - 410-326-2042 x62

Traci.Cimini@calvertcountymd.gov

CMM-PR-17-52

September 6, 2017

For Immediate Release ~ Also include in community calendars

 “AT THE WATER’S EDGE” LECTURE SERIES PRESENTS

“AFRICAN AMERICAN LEISURE DESTINATIONS AROUND WASHINGTON, D.C.”

A new lecture series, “At the Water’s Edge” kicks off at the Calvert Marine Museum on Thursday, September 14. The series highlights how people enjoyed leisure time on the Chesapeake Bay from 1890 through the 1970s. Patsy Mose Fletcher will present “African American Leisure Destinations around Washington, D.C.” at 7 p.m. in the Harms Gallery.

Author and public historian, Patsy M. Fletcher, reveals the history behind Washington's forgotten era of African American leisure. From the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century, African Americans in the Washington, D.C. area sought destinations where they could relax without the burden of racial oppression. Local picnic parks such as Eureka and Madre's were accessible by streetcars. Black-owned steamboats ferried passengers seeking sun and sand to places like Glymont, and African American families settled into quiet beach-side communities along the Western Shore of Maryland.

Patsy Fletcher is a consultant in the field of historic preservation and community development through her company Training, Historical Research and Economic Development (THREAD, LLC). As a preservationist, she has aided in documenting and publishing histories of wards in the District. As a historian, she has contributed to the documentary Master Builders of the Nation's Capital, as well as The Economics of Historic Preservation, and The Biographical Dictionary of African American Architects, 1865-1945.

“At the Water’s Edge” lectures will span across Calvert County from the north to the south through April, 2018 and are made possible by joint efforts of the Bayside History Museum, Calvert Library, Calvert Marine Museum, and the Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum.

“At the Water’s Edge” logo attached designed by Mel Gallipeau

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The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $9.00 for adults, $7.00 for seniors, military with valid I.D. and AAA members, and $4.00 for children ages 5 - 12; children under 5 and museum members are always admitted free. For more information about the museum, upcoming events, or membership, visit the website at www.calvertmarinemuseum.com or call 410-326-2042. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, Google+, Instagram and Pinterest.