St. Mary's County Times December 06, 2018 | Page 18

18 Feature The County Times Thursday, December 6, 2018 New Guide Demystifies St. Mary’s City By Guy Leonard Staff Writer Three former teachers who have turned to writing cooking and children’s books have now published a guide that gives first-time visitors and long-time coun- ty residents an easy way to decipher the history of St. Mary’s City Settled in 1634 by English colonists, St. Mary’s City was the starting point not just for St. Mary’s County but for all of Maryland. But archaeologists who work there say it still re- mains a lost city, with much of its history waiting to be laid bare. Ellynne Brice Davis, Joyce Judd and Myra Raspa have diligently combed the known history of the founding city to offer Whispers From the Colonial Past: A Self-Guided Walking Tour For Visitors to St. Mary’s County. The three women are passionate about St. Mary’s City and as educators have done their fair share trips to the site; the book was written with 4th grade field trips in mind, they said. “We thought there was a need for a family friendly book,” Davis, the author of the book, told The County Times. “There are so many gifts in the gift shop there but there’s no souvenir program and there’s nothing with the fold out map that is included in our book. “And there’s nothing with the pictures that Joyce has done of every single monument.” The spiral-bound guide is produced on heavy weight, glossy stock that the ladies said was designed to be compact, easy to use and also of sufficient quality and durability to stand up to tours with rainy conditions or hot, sweat-inducing days. The table of contents allows visitors to quickly pick out information on specific monuments or other points of interest at St. Mary’s City. The book’s introduction gives a concise history of the colony’s beginnings, including the many notable “firsts” the colony achieved. Those included being Maryland’s first settlement, the first successful privately-owned English colony in North America and being Maryland’s first colonial capital. St. Mary’s City was the first settlement, according to the guide, to separate religion from government and it was also the first place where a person of African- American descent in North America participated in the legislature. That person was Mathias de Souza in 1642. For those entirely new to the St. Mary’s City experi- ence, the guide offers ticket purchasing information, driving directions and even a color illustration of the Blue Barn visitor’s center where the visitor’s journey begins. “We’re trying to give someone who’s going to spend just two hours there something they’ll always remem- ber,” Davis said. “We’ve made it [the city] accessible to anyone who buys a ticket for the day.” The guide was assembled with the full cooperation of Historic St. Mary’s City including the chief archae- ologist there, Dr. Henry Miller, who has overseen the development of historical resources for decades. Davis said their latest project was a labor of love for the three women. “We’re three retired teachers and we had the time and we had the desire,” said Davis. “And there was a need.” The guide not only helps visitors along in finding monuments and historic sites at St. Mary’s City but it also helps them understand what life was like in the 17th century. From talking about the incentives for colonists to come to Maryland, the guide describes England as “la- bor rich and land poor,” to the death toll they had to endure on their arrival due to disease, the guide illumi- nates the challenges they faced. But there were opportunities, as well, the guide shows, since each colonist was given 100 acres of land. Judd’s hand-drawn illustrations, in color and black and white, help bring colonial life into focus. “That was the reason for all the illustrations,” said Judd, whose own knowledge of St. Mary’s City ex- panded greatly when she had to track down every monument. Her illustrations also show the hard labor each colo- nist had to engage in on a daily basis, replicated by docents working as historical interpreters at the site. “There were more than I’d imagined,” Judd said of all the monuments and sites available to the public. “That’s why I started at the town center.” The town center was the nexus of activity in the colony’s beginning days and much of what has been rebuilt is there, hence it is also the center for visitors to explore, she said. Still, her work took her to every corner of St. Mary’s City, Judd said. “I wanted to make [the guide] cram packed so no- body would miss anything,” Judd said. “It was a great experience.” The guide also spends significant space on the lives of woodland Indians and illustrates the hamlet there at the site including the plants they grew and how they dried them to preserve them. The colonists’ survival was in part due to the na- tive people’s sharing of survival techniques, including hunting and wild edibles, according to the guide. Bringing all the information and illustration together was Raspa, the editor of the project, who designed the layout and ensured the style and flow of the work. Raspa said since the work focused so closely on seri- ous history, accuracy was paramount. “I go through every, single word,” Raspa said. “The facts and figures are very important. “I’m a stickler for that. It was a very involved project.” The challenge, Raspa said, was to make the guide comprehensive and useful but at the same time not cumbersome or overly burdened with minutiae. The final product, she said, was unique. “There [is] nothing like that out there,” said Raspa. “It’s useful as well as enjoyable.” The book was a guide but also a reminder of the county’s special heritage. “We in St. Mary’s County forget how steeped we are in history,” Raspa said. “It’s a good reminder.” Davis said the initial printing has been a successful run and they are already in need of a second. The Printing Press in Leonardtown printed the guide. [email protected]