Darius Johnson

Darius Johnson is a scholar-practitioner focused on public history, historic preservation, community development, and philanthropy. His efforts are driven by his desire to help strengthen and sustain communities by drawing upon the intersections of cultural heritage, land use, and storytelling. At Washington College, Darius works with faculty, staff, students, and community members to develop the next phase of Chesapeake Heartland: An African American Humanities Project and to expand the project’s digital archive through collaborative digital repatriation partnerships with the Maryland State Archives, Maryland Center for History and Culture, and the American Antiquarian Society.

A native of Kent County, Darius graduated from Kent County High School in 2011. He received the Vincent Hynson Scholarship to attend Washington College where he graduated in 2015 with a BA in Business Management. Always appreciative of his roots, Darius prioritizes investing in the people and places that invested in him—he currently serves on the Washington College Alumni Board and he regularly supports the Washington College Business Department as a speaker to current and prospective students. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Chesapeake College Foundation as Vice President and the Board of Directors for Eastern Shore Land Conservancy.

Darius is influenced by diverse work experiences across affordable housing, construction, land conservation/land use, fundraising, workforce development, and business analytics. For his efforts, he was named an African American Trailblazer by Kent County’s Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast Committee. For his research interests, he was named a Built Environment Scholar and Community Engagement Scholar by Goucher College where he is pursuing a Master’s in Historic Preservation. For his leadership, he was named a Mildred Colodny Diversity Scholar by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and he is a Senior Fellow of the Environmental Leadership Program.

Of all his work, one of his favorite projects is “Homecoming: Kent County” which is a research project completed for his 2020-2021 Community Curation Fellowship with Chesapeake Heartland. Darius completed oral history interviews of family members and curated 60 photos that reflected rural black life in Kent County through positive themes such as love, labor, and celebration. He’s continued to build on this work throughout his graduate studies—growing personally, as much as professionally. He hopes to help others do the same by discovering their heritage.

The Digital Justice Fellow is funded by the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). The ACLS Digital Justice Grant program is designed to promote and provide resources for projects at various stages of development that diversify the digital domain, advance justice and equity in digital scholarly practice, and/or contribute to public understanding of racial and social justice issues.

For more information on Chesapeake Heartland Project Funding.