Talbot History is Our History

Caroline Burnite Walker was a pioneering librarian who founded the Talbot County Free Library in 1925, ensuring free access to books for the community. A nationally recognized leader in children's library services, she believed in the power of literacy and worked tirelessly to bring a library to Talbot County. Thanks to her vision, TCFL continues to serve thousands of residents today.

Mary Elizabeth Banning, a self-taught mycologist from Talbot County, made significant contributions to the study of fungi in the 19th century. Her unpublished manuscript, The Fungi of Maryland, included 174 detailed watercolor illustrations, some depicting species never before recorded. Despite the challenges women faced in science at the time, her passion and meticulous research earned her lasting recognition, including a fungus named in her honor—Hypomyces banningii.

Amelia B. Coppuck Welby, born in St. Michaels in 1819, was a celebrated 19th-century poet known for her lyrical and romantic verse. Writing under the pen name Minstrel-girl, her poetry gained national recognition, with her 1845 collection Poems by Amelia earning praise—even from Edgar Allan Poe. Though her life was brief, her work remains a beautiful part of Talbot County’s literary history.

: Isaiah Fountain was a bold and resourceful African American farmer from Trappe who became the central figure in one of the biggest news stories to occur in Talbot County. In 1919 the Easton Star-Democrat wrote that the Isaiah Fountain case was "one of the most noted in the State's annals." A century later, lawyer and author, Sherrilyn Ifill wrote that the Fountain case "was one of the most notorious on the [Eastern] Shore during the early part of the twentieth century. Ifill also wrote that the case also involved Talbot County's largest incident of mob violence in its history. Today Isaiah Fountain's case is little known.

To continue Black History Month coverage, WMDT presents the life of Nathan Nace Hopkins. The man who helped enslaved people in Talbot County become free. He did that not only physically, but mentally, and emotionally. His great-great-grandchild, Dale Kevin Brown, said his significance to the area is enormous.

Descendants, county leaders and state transportation officials gathered to unveil a historical marker honoring Douglass at the Talbot County Courthouse Thursday morning. They were joined by Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller.

Though President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, issued on Jan. 1, 1863, did not free the enslaved people in Maryland, it allowed African Americans throughout the nation to serve in the Union Army as part of the United States Colored Troops. This gave Black Americans the opportunity to fight not only for their nation, but also for their freedom and citizenship — and fight they did.

Aided by state grant funding, CBMM plans to rehabilitate a historic structure on its campus that previously housed its Museum Store and rename it the Coulbourne & Jewett Education Center.

Thelma Alfred was a dedicated educator and civil rights leader who founded the Talbot County NAACP in 1949, leading efforts for desegregation and racial equality. Her lifelong commitment to education, activism, and community service left a lasting impact on Talbot County.

Nathaniel “Nace” Hopkins, known as "Uncle Nace," was a man of resilience, leadership, and vision. Born into slavery around 1830 in Trappe, Maryland, his life was marked by a determination to uplift his community.