History Shark Productions

It has been nearly 30 years since local historian Chris Haugh was inspired to produce the 1997 documentary/film entitled “Up from the Meadows: A History of Black Americans in Frederick County, Maryland.”  As the title suggests, this program includes an interesting study of Frederick County Black history through the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, covering the time periods from slavery to emancipation, and segregation to civil rights equality within a divided Maryland.  “Up from the Meadows” features an esteemed group of former residents as on-camera commentators including Kathleen Snowden, William O. Lee, Jr., Lord Nickens, Arnold Delauter and Dr. Blanche Bourne-Tyree to name a few.

Established in 1748, the north-central Maryland environs of Frederick County is a perfect case study for African-American cultural history, as it once represented “a border county within a border state” during the American Civil War, being situated below the Mason-Dixon Line and Pennsylvania to the north, and the Potomac River and Virginia to the south. Repercussions would continue up through the Civil Rights Movement of the mid 20th century.

The multi-part program was produced by Frederick's former cable company, GS Communications, first airing on local Cable Channel 10. It would go on to be the recipient of a Telly Award of programming excellence, along with earning many citations, topped by the 1998 Beacon Award of Excellence, the highest honor in the Cable Telecommunication’s Industry for public affairs outreach and programming.

This course will be taught in four (2-hour long) classes through lecture accompanied by PowerPoint visuals and segments from the documentary, itself. The location for the class will be the Key Memorial Chapel on the grounds of historic Mount Olivet Cemetery in Frederick.