Celebrating Kent County Black Entrepreneurs of the 50’s and 60’s


Celebrating Kent County Black Entrepreneurs of the 50’s and 60’s

Worthy of a feature film, African American life in the 50’s and 60’s in Chestertown was bustling, and the black business owners at the time were the catalyst for that vitality. When businesses died out, so did the vitality, and narrators discussed that loss. The Celebrating Black Entrepreneurs online exhibit shares the stories of twenty-two African Americans who were either black business owners, their family, employees or clients of businesses open in the 50s and 60s. Over twenty black businesses were located in downtown Chestertown, MD. Residents described Cannon and Calvert Streets as a busy commerce area during the week and a bustling place on Friday and Saturday nights. And the infamous Charlie Graves’ Uptown Club on Calvert Street added to the vitality of the time by bringing in big name singers including James Brown, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Patti Labelle, Etta James, Ottis Redding, BB King and Ray Charles to perform to audiences well over a hundred folks.

Uptown Black Businesses

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  • Milford Murray Remembers the Entertainers at the Uptown Club

  • Jimmy Sampson Remembers Charlie Grave's Boat Trips

  • Jocelyn Williams Remembers Going to Charlie's with Her Church Choir

  • Kenny Harris Worked in Pool Room at the Uptown Club

  • Bagwaina Tarrant Remembers Her Mother, Marion Lindsey

  • Kenny Harris Shares Fond Memories of Charlie Graves

  • Dora Best Remembers working with Her Grandmother

  • Kenny Harris Remembers Charlie Graves and His Son Brian

  • Barrett tallks about Munson Stores

  • Joyce and Elise Walley Talk About How the Business Got Started

  • Joyce and Elise Walley Talk About Elise Taking Over Her Dad's Business

  • Elise and Joyce Walley Talk About Dealing with Grief

  • Elise and Joyce Walley Talk About Some of Their Funerals

  • Elise and Joyce Walley Share How They Work to Make Funeral Arrangements

  • Joyce Walley Talks about Her Daughter's Death

Downtown Black Businesses

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  • Lucille Warren's Beauty Salon

  • Kenny Harris Remembers Sam Hoxter

  • Elijah Smith's Beer Garden

  • Jimmy Sampson Remembers Harold Jones Barbershop

  • Kenny Harris Remembers Smitty's

  • Smitty's Fish Fry and Hat Cleaning Business

  • Armond Fletcher Remembers Calvin Frazier's Barbershop

  • Milford Murray Remembers Elijah Smith's Beer Garden

  • Virginia Commodore Talks about Her Brother's Commodore Electric Company

  • Herbert Warren Remembers Smitty's

  • Lucille Warren's Beauty Salon

  • Herbert Warrens Remembers Playing in Sam Hoxter Beer Garden

  • Bagwaina Tarrant Remembers Her Mother, Marion Lindsey

Black Businesses Around the County

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  • Anna Mae Dorsey Remembers Driving Students to School

  • Anna Mae Dorsey Drives School Bus

  • Lauretta and Clyde Freeman Remember How Clyde Learned to Be a Bricklayer

  • John Stewart's Grandfather Starts Business

  • Solving School Bus Driver Issues

  • Airlee Johnson Remembers William Martin's Gas Station

  • Lauretta and Clyde Freeman Remember How the Freeman Brothers Masonry Got Started

  • Stewart Remembers Working for His Father

Growing Up Back Then

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  • Back Then

  • Airlee Johnson Remembers Growing Up on Cannon Street

  • Bagwaina Tarrant Remembers Integration

  • Growing Up in Chestertown

  • Herbert Warrens Remembers Spending His Early Years on Cannon Street

  • Airlee Johnson Remembers When Blacks Started to Get Loans

Loss of Black Businesses

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  • Jimmy Sampson Remembers What Black Businesses Meant to Him

  • Milford Murray Discusses the Impact of Black Owned Businesses Closing


The exhibition was staged at Chestertown RiverArts and the interviews were curated by Lani Seikaly and Airlee Johnson. “Though this was not my first experience collecting local African American oral histories, I continue to be passionate about and inspired by the narrators and their stories. The incredible work ethic along with a strong sense of community comes through in almost every interview I conducted. Glimpses of segregation and its impact are laced through the stories as well as the challenges of transitioning to integration. Economic challenges abounded but are moderated by the spirit, resourcefulness and good will of the people. As one narrator put it, ‘I didn’t even know I was poor because I had what a lot of people didn’t have and that’s a sense of love and community support.’” Lani Hall Seikaly “As a curator for this exhibit and spending childhood years on Cannon St., I’ve been able to revisit my personal history during this very bustling time. It has truly been a privilege to relive this time period as we talked to interviewees, collected pictures and took many trips down memory lane. I remember how all the proprietors were so friendly to the neighborhood children. There was a strong sense of community pride and extremely strong work ethic. Our active streets rivaled many commerce districts in larger cities, but on much smaller scales.” Airlee Ringgold Johnson