In 1994, the African American Schoolhouse Museum & Heritage Council (AASMHC) was established under the leadership of Karen Somerville. The original purpose of the organization was to preserve, restore and establish a cultural center and museum in the one-room “colored” schoolhouse built in August 1890 in the community of Worton Point, Maryland. The museum represents the rich history of the town as it relates to slavery on the Gale Plantation and the close family ties that have bound the community for the last 200 years.
Since the late 1990’s, the organization has broadened its scope to include additional projects that represent the full scope of African American history in Kent County, Maryland. Our most recent venture is a partnership with Preservation, Inc. and the Kent County Historical Association to revive a national treasure - the meeting hall of the Charles Sumter Post #25 of the Grand Army of the Republic. This meeting hall, constructed in 1890, is quite possibly the only remaining useable structure of its kind. Built by African-American Union Civil War veterans, it served as a meeting place and community center. The building has been stabilized and saved from ruin by Preservation, Inc. and plans are being developed for the African American Schoolhouse Museum and Heritage Council to gather the capital necessary to complete construction needed to make the building a museum and cultural center.
The African American Schoolhouse Museum & Heritage Council, Inc. is a 501(c)3 organization; donations are tax deductible. Please contact Karen Somerville, Executive Director, at
somersinger@peoplepc.com or 410 810 1416 for more information.
