Preserving the Past and Building the Future

Darius Johnson ’15 has always had a profound sense of place and has translated this into a career exploring, documenting, and understanding how place and heritage illuminate the lives of the people of Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Much of this work has been done at the College, where he has been a student, an intern, and now a fellow at the Washington College Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience.

Johnson’s passion for telling stories about people and places started as a child. “In the seventh grade, I wrote an autobiography titled ‘In the Depth of the Woods,’” Johnson said. The title is a play on the name of his hometown, Bigwoods–a small neighborhood just outside Chestertown. The biography wasn’t a school assignment–it was just a young man’s desire to put pen to paper and document his family’s multi-generational ties to the area. He was also fascinated by the unique and often overlooked architecture of the African American houses, buildings, and communities of his home region and felt they, too, told the story of the Eastern Shore.

Johnson attended Washington, where he majored in business management, thanks to a Vincent Hynson Scholarship. He vowed to follow in Hynson’s footsteps and devote himself to community and public service across the region.

After graduating, Johnson went into data analytics, but the pull of his home turf was too strong. He found his way to the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy and then served as the executive director of Kent Attainable Housing. Working in land conservation, economic development, and affordable housing advocacy in the region blended his love for the region’s history with the opportunity to contribute to its future.

In 2019, Johnson helped the Starr Center create the Chesapeake Heartland: An African American Humanities project, and a few years later, he signed on to the project as a community curation fellow. There, he completed one of his favorite projects, “Homecoming: Kent County,” which collected family photos and oral histories that reflected rural black life in Kent County through positive themes such as love, labor, and celebration.

“That fellowship was really centered around documenting joy and pride in black communities,” Johnson said. In working with the community to preserve their stories, Johnson found himself becoming a seasoned and informed historian, capable of offering insight into the ongoing conversations around the historic preservation of the region. 

After a year working for the ACE Mentor Program of America, Johnson again returned to the College and is now a Starr Center digital justice fellow, collaborating with faculty, staff, students, and community members to develop the next phase of the Chesapeake Heartland project and expand the reach of its digital archive. The work makes the histories Johnson and others have discovered and preserved more accessible to people seeking their own family histories, to policymakers and preservationists, and to K-12 educators developing curricula on the unique history of this region. 

“I knew that here I would really be able to lean into my identity, one hundred percent,” Johnson said of his latest position at the College, which he notes has often given him the chance to explore and develop. “What I have found I value most is the process of self-discovery.” 

Johnson’s work and knowledge have been lauded and recognized by many within the College. “Darius’ commitment and passion for both our region's economic development and its historic preservation is inspiring,” said Patrick Nugent, Thomas V. Miller Director of Civic Engagement. “So, too, is his unique ability to bring our campus and local community into powerful collaboration. He represents exactly the type of purposeful and morally courageous leader our college seeks to inspire.”

Airlee Ringgold Johnson, community historian at the Starr Center, has been following Johnson’s career since 2019. “His ideas always hit the mark to advance the organization's mission,” she said.

His work has also afforded him prestigious appointments. Johnson has served on boards of directors for the Chesapeake College Foundation, the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, and the Maryland Historical Trust. Reflecting on his work, Johnson continues to honor the heritage of his Eastern Shore roots while, as he calls it, “waking people up to preserve and enhance the spaces and community.”  

— Dominique Ellis Falcon