“How did you end up in Cecil County?” It’s my favorite question to ask. Whether you’re a “from here” or a “come here,” there’s always a story to answer that question.

My journey to Cecil County was many years in the making, having grown up a Navy-brat moving from Coast to Coast, I attended college in upstate New York and started my career in New York City. The Cecil County landscape reminds my husband of summers at his grandmother’s Long Island farm, before everything was developed and crowded, and so, for a reason as simple as that, we settled here.

American history is filled with tales of immigration and migration and rags to riches mobility. Americans have always been on the move. Early settlers on horseback searched for better farmland, religious freedom or gold. The industrial revolution spurred innovations in agriculture, manufacturing and transportation, which grew our nation. From steam engine trains to automobiles and airplanes, transportation is an integral part of our social and economic landscape.
This summer, Cecil County Public Library is delighted to partner with the Cecil County Arts Council and the Historical Society of Cecil County to bring you the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street exhibit “Journey Stories.” Cecil County is one of only five sites in Maryland to host this special program and there are events planned county-wide this summer and into the fall. Be on the look-out for a full calendar coming soon.

Elkton Main Street on its 100th anniversary. Photo: Cecil County Historical Society

The Smithsonian exhibit will focus on themes of transportation and immigration on a national scale and library events will focus on local stories. Ukrainian immigrants settled in Chesapeake City to build the C&D Canal and the rivers were busy with barges of tobacco. Lovers flocked to Elkton during the heydays of the marriage business and World War II brought droves of soldiers and munitions workers to the county. A doctor arrived from Russia in the early 1950s with his family, and a local boy who integrated at Elkton High school went on to an internationally successful music career. These are the stories of Cecil County.
What is your Journey Story? Where did your family start their journey? Where did they settle down? Share by leaving a comment below!

This post was contributed by Frazier Walker, Cecil County Public Library

The following is a guest posting from a participant of the recent program “Moving Stories:  Getting Around in Baltimore”, as part of MHC’s Practicing Democracy Program. Thank you, Jessica, for providing your reflections.

Listen to an excerpt of Jessica’s performance:  Jessica Keller, Moving Stories excerpt

I love to speak about all forms of transportation but what I love to discuss most is being car free.  So, when someone forwarded the “Moving Stories” opportunity to me, I applied right away.  I was a little anxious too because I work for a transit agency and being car free isn’t always pretty; I didn’t want to be seen as disparaging my agency.  What I saw was an opportunity to show regular people that other regular people, like myself, use mass transportation. As I mentioned, being car free isn’t always pretty but those ugly instances, in hindsight, tend to be pretty funny and make for great stories.

After telling my not-so-pretty story, I had the chance to discuss transportation issues with people who I ordinarily wouldn’t come to meet.  I hope some of those people will reconnect with me in the future to help make Baltimore a better place to travel around.

I’m curious……have you ever taken transit and if not, what would encourage you to do so? OR, are you car free and loving it too?  Can you imagine giving up at least one car?

Jessica A. Keller, Storyteller “Moving Stories”