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OUR FOUNDER
Vincent Omar Leggett, 1953-2024
Founder and President of Blacks of the Chesapeake
Education & Career
Vince grew up in the Baltimore City Public School System, graduating from Edmondson Senior High. He earned a BA in Urban Planning and Community Development from Morgan State University in 1975 and later completed an MPA at Central Michigan University in 1999. He began his career as an education planner for Baltimore City Public Schools and, from 1980 onward, held leadership roles across Anne Arundel County: Executive Director of both the County Housing Commission and the Housing Authority of Annapolis; Campus Planner and Academic Advisor at Anne Arundel Community College; and Coordinator of Special Projects at Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources. He also served on numerous boards, including the Chesapeake Legal Alliance, Wiley H. Bates Legacy Center, Seafarers Yacht Club of Annapolis, and the Chesapeake Bay Commission.
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Conservation & Legacy
A gifted educator, speaker, author, historian, planner, and conservationist, Vince’s accolades span decades. He received the Carol Thompson Lifetime Achievement Award and was inducted into the Anne Arundel Chamber of Commerce Business Hall of Fame (2024). In 2002, Governor Parris Glendening named him “Admiral of the Chesapeake,” and Governor William Donald Schaefer appointed him to and he later led the Anne Arundel County Board of Education (1988–1993). He authored Blacks of the Chesapeake (1997) and The Chesapeake Bay Through Ebony Eyes (1999) and entered the Maritime Hall of Fame in 2005.
In 1991, he founded the Blacks of the Chesapeake Foundation, a 501(c)(3) dedicated to environmental justice and preserving African American maritime heritage; it was honored as a Library of Congress Local Legacy Project in 2000. He led a 17-year campaign to “Save Elktonia Beach,” preserving key waterfront land first bought by freedman Fred Carr, and in 2024 secured the adjacent “Moore Property,” once owned by educator Parlett L. Moore. A devoted family man, Vince shared his love of nature and history with his children, grandchildren, and nieces through teachable “field trips.” His voice lives on in award-winning documentaries, most notably the 2024 PBS Regional Emmy–winning Water’s Edge, where he championed Black communities’ stories along the Chesapeake. We honor his vision by continuing to promote justice, inclusion, and stewardship of the Bay.
