Black History Month: Charles H. Chipman
Local Leader
EASTERN SHORE, Md. – Continuing our Black History Month series, we now take a look at local Community leader Charles and the historical contributions he made to the Eastern Shore.
Community Congregation
The Chipman Cultural Center is the oldest standing African American church on Delmarva, and in 1838- Five Freedmen built the first and only place of worship for Blacks on the same land their ancestors were enslaved on just 200 years prior.
“They can tell you everything about Wicomico County, from its inception, but you don’t find very much about the black community, or how we lived… We could be separate but equal. So, you had separate facilities, separate churches, separate schools, which meant we had a community within itself where we had to take care of ourselves and our own.”
Education & Entrepreneurship
74-year-old Warren White grew up here in Salisbury and his family knew the Chipman’s well. He describes Charles H Chipman as a well-educated man who spoke Latin. Chipman is determined to stabilize the Black community through education, entrepreneurship, and investments.
He even bought homes he rented to black families- in fact, White stayed in a house directly behind him. “He understood that the needs for our community had to involve education, and also spiritual and cultural development… Well, Mr. Chipman was designated as the leader, but this was done by a community of people.”
White- Washing
White says because of the pain the people on the Eastern shore had to endure, their stories had to be told by them and shared with everyone. This historic church sits on a hill at the crossroads of route 50 and 13, but White says it was more than that.
“The black communities were wiped out. where this building is that we’re talking about today, this was a primarily black district for employment and businesses. Wiped out so that the highway could come through here. Almost everywhere you look in this area, where there was a thriving Black community When it started to thrive, it got wiped out for “progress” or some other means.”
Living Legacy
Erasure is what Chipman was determined to fight, which is why the community had him set in stone. In 1994 he created the Chipman Cultural Center to keep the history alive, and today individuals like Warren White help keep the legacy alive as well. “We need to be a part of certain things, but knowing that we couldn’t be, did not stop us from growing our community, through service, through working, through occupation.”
Exclusion Encouraged Excellence
White says exclusion forced excellence, and although they were economically unequal, they had black electricians, educators, and Entrepreneurs to encourage the black community- and that’s to be remembered. “A lot has been suppressed, but there is so much that needs to be told. That’s why we call this a cultural center. It’s about now learning and understand that some of those systems, even though it may not be as overt as it was in the past, are still in place today.”
While the Chipman Center is open to visit, they are currently raising money to refurbish parts of the building and help better depict the history along the Eastern Shore. If you’re interested in donating, hosting, or visiting, or learning more about the Chipman Center, visit their website.
