Collaged Images
This selection of letters, publications, maps, and dust jacket from a book illustrate the two distinct aspects of creating a home at the water’s edge. Known as “The Venice of America,” Talbot County was home to wealthy families who took pride in their prosperity, lineage, and stately homes along the many rivers feeding into the Chesapeake Bay. Contrast that to the built environment of formerly enslaved families, who were often left to cope with the challenges of farming in flood-prone areas. The stark reality is apparent in the letter written by one of Sallie Copper’s daughters to Oswald Tilghman, the owner of an 18th-c. estate, in which she begs him for shelter from an abusive husband. The letter paints the edges of a story that could have been written by the Eastern Shore’s great black novelist, Waters Edward Turpin.
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