What's Life Like in a National Heritage Area?

I may be finding out as there are Efforts underway to make Southern Md. a National Heritage Area

Southern Maryland has a wealth of history, tradition and firsts, and Lucille Walker and her team would like to preserve that by designating the area as a National Heritage Area.

“Who are we and what are our stories and how are our stories informing our national stories?” asked Walker, the executive director of the Southern Maryland Heritage Area. “We are a foundation story, we are a first peoples story, we are an African American story and we’re also a European story. I am amazed at the survival of these peoples and their stories, and we want to crystalize that.”

Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s have been identified as the Southern Maryland Heritage Area for the last 15 years.

The National Heritage Area would comprise Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties, and possibly a sliver of Prince George’s and Anne Arundel counties.

If granted the national designation, the area would be the second — after Baltimore — entirely within the state of Maryland.

“We’re looking at ways to attract tourists, but also preserve our area for the purple martin,” said La Plata mayor Jeannine James, referring to her town recently being designated as Maryland’s first Bird City. “And it’s a unique identity and that’s why we fight so hard for Southern Maryland. We’re a town of 10,000 growing to 25,000 and when you grow like that you lose your identity and that’s so important” to preserve, she said.

Why?  New people will build a new identity.

There are currently 55 National Heritage Areas in the country, one of which is Baltimore, which gained its NHA status in 2009.

Why would we aspire to be anything like Baltimore? 

“It has helped with tourism and in bringing the light to all of the firsts that people are not completely aware of,” said Shauntee Daniels, the executive director of the Baltimore National Heritage Area. “People really do go to places to learn and to experience the culture. Baltimore has wonderful stories to tell and being a National Heritage Area has given us a platform to tell those stories.”

Walker and her team — she has 22 members on the feasibility study program committee — also have the backing of Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md., 5th) and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.).

“It is a unique spot in this world, there’s no doubt about it,” Cardin said during a virtual meeting Sept. 18. “People want to live there and they want their families to grow up there and with the historic nature of the area, you have the best of all worlds. And you’ve got the Chesapeake Bay watershed. What else could you ask for right in the heart of Southern Maryland? It’s a unique place and a quality of life we want to preserve.”

Any time someone says they're trying to "preserve" a certain quality of life, I check my wallet. 

The committee recently tried to gain traction with a pair of community conversations and a Zoom meeting in mid-September.

“People in Southern Maryland are the staples; they’re the ones that know the history and that’s what I’m fighting so hard to protect,” James said. “It’s rich with history and we lose a little but more every day … so having a national recognition where we can preserve a lot is so important. Every day we are losing those historians that are telling the stories. That is something that is so traditional and I’m interested in telling the story and making sure it is preserved, not only for my kids but for their kids and generations to come.”

I am a relative newcomer to the Southern Maryland region, having arrived from Florida, by way of Oregon and California in 1985. But my experience in the science community and the local water community has acquainted me with wide range of people who live in Southern MD. Most just want a good life they way they want to live it. They don't want to be hold how to live to be the residents of a region with options restricted by outsiders who want to preserve their quaint notions of how we should conduct ourselves.