Projects

Rooted in heritage and driven by purpose, our projects elevate Black voices, restore and protect the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, and connect communities to the “green spaces and blue waters” that sustain us. This is all made possible through the passion of our volunteers, partners, and allies.

Carr's - Elktonia Beach Park:

BoCF received grant funding from the National Park Service Chesapeake Gateways Program to facilitate the development of an Environmental and Black Heritage educational strategy to inform a plan for year-round public-facing programs at the new Carr’s - Elktonia Beachfront City Park. The park’s educational strategy includes multiple curricula, representing the collaboration of BoCF and area partners such as, but not limited to: Chesapeake Bay Oyster Ecology informed by the work of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation; The Chesapeake Bay, Climate Change, and Human Health Impacts from UMD Center for Environmental Sciences (UMCES); and eDNA for Place-telling and Storytelling offered by Black in Marine Science (BIMS) and Blacks of the Chesapeake Foundation, Inc.

Similarly, Black Heritage programming will be developed from the BoCF publication, “The Chesapeake Bay Through Ebony Eyes,” with an updated companion curriculum guide for 7th-grade social studies instruction. Partners continue to engage in program planning, provide recommendations for site development features to provide a unique visitor experience, and propose various technologies for storytelling and interpretation.

BoCF continues to share historical information through its collaboration with the Maryland State Archives, allowing partners and collaborators to rely on documents, artifacts, video, and documentaries housed in the BoCF collection at Maryland Online Digital Archives. This includes documentaries narrated by Founder/CEO Vincent O/ Leggett, Admiral of the Chesapeake, as shared on Maryland Public Television.

“Hearts and Hands Across the Atlantic”

is the BoCF’s international collaboration launched in 2022 following an invitation from the government of Senegal for Former CEO, Vince Leggett and co-founder, Aldena Legget, to visit as a cultural attaches, with request to accept a traditional African Pirogue boat constructed by 17th-generation Senegalese boat makers using conventional methods that do not involve tape measures and relying on blacksmithing the centuries-old tools unique to this form of boatmaking. The BoCF 2023 visit and delegation was led by world-renowned metallurgist, craftsman, and educator, Mr. Phillip Harrison, founder of the international nonprofit Penumbra Design. Mr. Harrison was BoCF’s Director of Visual Art and Metals in February 2022. Phillip continues to advance this project with plans to sail the Pirogue boat from Dakar, Senegal, into the Port of Annapolis in 2027, retracing the infamous Trans-Atlantic slave route. BoCF envisions this boat becoming a major visitor attraction at the new Annapolis Maritime Welcome Center, sharing the story of the Trans-Atlantic Slave industry, the ensuing enslavement of captured Africans, and the contributions of these enslaved persons and their descendants in establishing the Chesapeake Bay as a global powerhouse in the maritime trades and seafood industries. The gifted boat will be welcomed at the new “Vincent O. Leggett Memorial Park and Pier.”

The Water’s Edge: ‘Water’s Edge: Black Watermen of the Chesapeake’ chronicles unsung Marylanders who revolutionized an industry, dreamed beyond their circumstances, and continue to keep their traditions alive today. The film explores several stories of bravery and resilience that exemplify the unique relationship between African Americans and the Chesapeake Bay, both past and present. Our very own, Vincent O. Leggett, served as an interviewee and prominent figure in the production.