BERLIN – A new exhibit from a popular Berlin artist will provide a glimpse of the late 19th century African American experience in Worcester County.
Local artist Patrick Henry will display a curated cross section of historic photographs with “Untold Stories: Chronicling our Delmarva History.” The exhibit, which opens Saturday at the Germantown School Community Heritage Center, features a variety of photos from the 19th and early 20th centuries depicting African American life in Worcester County.
“What it does is portrays the African American journey from post-Civil War to the middle 1950s,” Henry said.
Community members are invited to the Germantown School March 4 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. for the opening reception for “Untold Stories,” Henry’s latest project. Henry, well known for his paintings, has gradually been amassing a collection of historic photographs and compiling narratives to accompany them. What started as an interest in the old photos his wife’s aunt left behind when she passed away has now progressed into a full blown collection of historic images. Henry has photos from the collection of Ed Hammond as well as images from John Dale Smack Jr., Berlin’s first Black councilman as well as Henry’s father-in-law. Those photos, retrieved from the never-used dishwasher that Henry joked essentially served as Smack’s private office, even provide a glimpse of military service abroad.
“I have them in a stack to flatten them out but I still need to put them in protective sleeves,” Henry said.
Henry initially shared a glimpse of the photographs he’s compiled in an exhibit in 2019. That one was so well received he planned “Untold Stories” for this month. The exhibit features 26 panels and includes various sections, including education, military service and home life. There’s also a section that features the workers and laborers from Ocean City’s early days.
“They helped make this area what it is,” Henry said.
While some will appreciate the exhibit for the peek into local history it provides, Henry believes others will focus on the personalities captured in the images. Elaine Spry, a former teacher and principal at Flower Street School and later vice principal at Berlin Middle School, is one of the individuals portrayed. The exhibit features photos of her with other teachers, in her office and even supervising a game of “Squirrels in a Tree” during recess at Flower Street School.
“She was a force of nature,” Henry said.
Henry has been inspired by the interest area residents have already expressed in the exhibit, which he says he did not develop as rhetoric but rather as something he simply wanted to do.
“It’s a personal, almost spiritual, fascination I have,” he said.
The exhibit opens Saturday and will be on display all of March. Interested residents who can’t attend during center hours are encouraged to set up a private visit. For more information, email [email protected] or look for updates on the center’s Facebook page.
