The Campus Compact Changemakers Retreat was hosted at Towson University by the Office of Partnerships and Outreach and the Office of Civic Engagement and Social Responsibility in June for the second year in a row. Campus Compact is a national nonprofit that empowers “colleges and universities to advance their academic and civic missions by partnering with communities to address complex social issues and further equity, justice, and prosperity for all.”
The annual Changemakers Retreat offers attendees a four-day intensive leadership development experience to hone skills, build community and empower themselves as campus leaders. Through interactive workshops, equity-centered community building, coaching and goal setting, retreat participants develop skills to advance civic and community engagement work on their campuses.
As a part of this year’s retreat, an ongoing partnership between TU’s Grantwriting In Valued Environments (G.I.V.E.) program and Historic East Towson was highlighted.
Located less than a mile from TU, Historic East Towson is Baltimore County’s oldest African-American community. Nestled between the Towson Town Center and Baltimore County Public Library, the historically Black neighborhood was founded in 1829 by the manumitted slaves of the Hampton Estate. Many of the current residents are their direct descendants.
Attendees of this year’s Changemakers Retreat first learned about the work of G.I.V.E. from faculty members Zosha Stuckey and Carrie Grant. Historic East Towson has received writing support from students in the G.I.V.E. program, advancing both the work of the nonprofit organization and the professional writing goals of the students.
They were then led on a tour of the neighborhood by Nancy R. Goldring, local historian, president of the Northeast Towson Improvement Association and seventh-generation Historic East Towson resident.
Several historic sites are situated within Historic East Towson, including:
- the Jacob House, one of the first homes built by an African American landholder.
- three historically Black churches: St. James African Union Methodist Protestant Church, Mount Olive Baptist Church and the Mount Calvary African Methodist Episcopal Church.
- the Pride of Towson Lodge.
- the Carver (Colored) High School.
- the Adelaide Bentley Park, named after Goldring’s grandmother and long-time East Towson leader, Adelaide C.V. Bentley.
Historic East Towson is continuously working to connect the neighborhood’s rich and complex history to a vibrant future, with a mission “to preserve and protect the quality of life for existing and future residents” and a commitment to “sustaining a community and economy that honors the history, heritage, and legacy of Historic East Towson.”
Visit Historic East Towson for yourself and walk or bike the Freedom Trail, which connects the sites of East Towson to the Hampton Plantation.
Additional resources:
- Historic East Towson, a community eroded
- The face behind the space: Nancy Goldring
- Mapping the road to Freedom Trail
- Virtual Freedom Trail Tour
- Community association seeks to honor Towson’s Black history with ‘Freedom Trail’
- Founded by former slaves, residents of historically Black East Towson say white supremacy, environmental racism threaten their land
