EASTON, MD.
Cassandra M. Vanhooser Director of Tourism, Talbot County, Md.
“We have to educate people of where we have been as we go forward, so we don’t make the mistakes of the past again.” On growing up in Easton, she says, “We were the help. We couldn’t go to ne restaurants. We didn’t have the privileges that we should have had.”
Jordan Leif Lloyd Executive Chef, Bartlett Pear Inn
Rosalie Sewell Gale Born in l922, Rosalie Sewell Gale is the oldest resident of The Hill and a living reminder of those whose dignity could not be compromised during the years of segregation. She turned 92 on March 12, 2014. The house where she resides, and where she was born, has been passed down through three generations of her family. She is a member of Bethel AME Church.
“There is a great opportunity through the efforts of Morgan to present ourselves to the nation as a place of enrichment.”
Continued from page 4
Broad Alliance His research on the history of The Hill has brought Professor Green close to celebrity status in Easton, if he hasn’t already reached it, that is. As principal investigator, he has become not only the face, voice and soul of The Hill Community Project but the focus of the hope it has generated among town residents. Doors open, people smile, and warm conversation begins when he meets the townspeople with his usual natty outfit, Sunday manners, warm smile and hug or handshake. But Professor Green is hardly alone in his optimism about The Hill. Cassandra M. Vanhooser, director of tourism for Talbot County, is on board
6
MORGAN MAGAZINE VOLUME I 2014
with the educational value that the vision and the plan are bringing to Easton. “We have introduced young visiting teachers to The Hill and its history,” she says, “and have planted that seed so that they can tell the story to their pupils in their schools. To see the young kids excited about it is thrilling, and that’s what makes me see the possibilities in The Hill project. It was still a hidden story until Professor Green started scratching the surface here. It was just a group of houses or a building here and there.” Easton Mayor Robert C. Wiley also
weighs in on the benefits of the small area plan. “This project (is providing funding for) a long-neglected neighborhood that is in need of a lot of help with infrastructure, housing and job opportunities,” he says. The mayor anticipates great improvement of The Hill’s streetscape, by replacing sidewalks, curbs, gutters and pavement, burying utility lines underground, planting trees and adding architectural buffering. Archana Sharma, Ph.D., assistant professor of landscape architecture at Morgan, sees the small area plan as an “organic overlay” to the historic