2025 Winter Luncheon Series

 Elizabeth Cady Stanton-Equality for All! 

presented by

Mary Ann Jung, Award-winning Actress and Smithsonian Scholar 

 While Stanton is best known for her long contribution to the woman suffrage struggle, she was also active and effective in winning property rights for married women, equal guardianship of children, and liberalized divorce laws so that women could leave abusive marriages which harmed the wife, the children, and the economic health of the family. 

Oyster Restoration in Herring Bay 

presented by

Birgit Sharp, Master Naturalist and Volunteer for Advocates for Herring Bay and the American Chestnut Land Trust

Oysters are often referred to as the “ecosystem engineers” of the Bay. Discover the many contributions oysters make to the health of the Bay and to humans. Learn about ongoing restoration efforts in the Chesapeake region, and the specific initiatives taking place locally in Herring Bay.

The Architects of Toxic Politics in America: Venom and Vitriol 

presented by

Kenneth Walsh, Veteran White House Correspondent, Historian, and Author

In The Architects... Walsh demonstrates the toxicity of the current political moment and the forces that have created it. This book focuses on presidents and administrations as well as “non-presidential” architects of toxic politics: other politicians, campaign strategists, activists, and media figures. 

Curating 400 Years of African American History across the Chesapeake Heartland

presented by 

Darius Johnson, Digital Justice Fellow at Washington College Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, Trustee on the board of the Maryland Historical Trust

  Together, Kent County residents, Washington College students, Chesapeake Heartland staff, and our sub-grant partners—Sumner Hall, Kent County Public Library, and Kent Cultural Alliance— explore, collect, record, and interpret the community’s own African American stories, and provide open-access to the Chesapeake Heartland Digital Archive. 

Fiction as Truth Telling: Capturing the Palestinian American Experience 

presented by

Susan Muaddi Darraj, Author and Tenured Professor of English Literature at Harford Community College and Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Johns Hopkins University 

With her latest book, Behind You is the Sea, Susan Muaddi Darraj "faces stereotypes about Palestinian culture head-on and, shifting perspectives to weave a complex social fabric replete with weddings, funerals, broken hearts, and devastating secrets." 

Fake Photography 

presented by

Tim Laur, Photographer, Professor, U.S. Air Force, Lt. Colonel (Ret.)

Details coming soon. 

Sustaining What Has Sustained Us: Understanding the Value of Coastal Landscapes 

presented by

Ebram Victoria, PhD candidate in Architecture, Urbanism, and the Built Environment at Morgan State University 

 Ebram’s research aims to elevate a conversation around designing with nature to integrate environmental therapies, and the expansion of existing ecosystem services to include the protection and promotion of human homeostasis: mind, body, and spirit. 

African Safaris Benefiting Locals 

presented by

John Wakeman-Linn, PhD Economist, retired from the International Monetary Fund

Details coming soon.