GLIMPSES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY
GLIMPSES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY
A Bowie State program celebrates the Sugarland community in art
Last spring, Sugarland Ethno-History Project president
Suzanne Johnson received an intriguing invitation from Dr. Karen Cook-Bell at Bowie State University: Would she like to write a poem in exchange for a $ 5,000 grant?
The grant, part of a wider fine arts initiative by the Du Bois Center Community Fellows Program and the Mellon Foundation, was welcome indeed. Johnson immediately knew that she could use the money to continue digitizing Sugarland’ s extensive collection of photos, artifacts, and documents. Established four miles south of Poolesville in 1871, Sugarland was a self-sufficient African American community with a church, a school, a store, a post office, a practice hall for the town band, and 150 residents at its height. Its historic church, built in 1893, is now a museum that welcomes all to learn about the rural experiences of African Americans in Montgomery County after emancipation.
Paired with Edie Wallace, a representative of historic Tolson’ s Chapel in Sharpsburg, Johnson wrote“ Our Souls Look Back in Wonder!”, a poem that recalls a familiar gospel refrain to honor her Sugarland ancestors and their legacy of resilience and faith.
“ The history part of this grant was easy for me, but I learned a lot about poetry and fine arts,” says Johnson, who has overseen the Sugarland non-profit since the passing of her cousin, founder Gwen Hebron Reese, in 2021.“ I realized that quilting, which is a passion of mine, is also considered a fine art. A quilt is planned as an extension of this grant, using the poem as the centerpiece, along
with historic photos from the Sugarland collection.”
The quilt Johnson makes will be displayed in the Sugarland church alongside other creative works that arose from the Du Bois Center initiative. James Young and Samuel Sharpe, recent graduates of the Fine Arts program at Bowie State, researched Sugarland and made two paintings that show how seriously they reflected on the history of the community.
Vividly evoking folk art motifs, Sharpe’ s painting pays tribute to the residents, relatives, and friends whose lives have been shaped by the Sugarland church. Young’ s painting shows a dignified older gentleman at rest in a barn, his Bible on his lap and the church visible in the distance through a doorway, suggesting a life rooted both in faith and in hard, tiring work.
The public first saw the paintings during Montgomery County Heritage Days in June, and Johnson points out that Sugarland descendants were especially moved by them. Over the years, artists have often stopped by to paint or sketch the Sugarland church and cemetery, and she sees their interest as a sign that the wider public is coming to have a better understanding of the ingenuity and resourcefulness of her ancestors. As she writes in her poem:“ We taught our children, celebrated our lives, and saved our stories for others to hear.”
The Sugarland church is open to visitors one Sunday per month and other times by appointment. Follow the Sugarland Ethno-History Project Facebook page for announcements, and visit www. sugarlandproject. org to schedule a tour for your family or group.
40 plenty I autumn harvest 2025