AARCH Society News Archive

Dr. Cheryl R. Gooch to Lead in Newly Created Role

The African American Resources Cultural and Heritage Society is excited to announce that we have hired Cheryl Renée Gooch, Ph.D., as our first-ever Executive Director.

Dr. Gooch is responsible for leading AARCH Society’s programs and events; the successful establishment of the African American Heritage Center currently slated to open in 2024 at the corner of Carroll and All Saints Streets in Frederick’s historic district; and expanding AARCH Society’s partnerships with educational, cultural, and civic organizations.

Dr. Gooch has an extensive background in academia, most recently serving as the Vice President for Academic Affairs at SUNY Schenectady. She has authored scholarly articles and two books: “Hinsonville’s Heroes, Black Civil War Soldiers of Chester County, Pennsylvania” and “On Africa’s Lands: The Forgotten Stories of Two Lincoln-Educated Missionaries in Liberia.”

“We are thrilled to be taking this important step forward with a committed leader experienced in building collaborative community relationships and dynamic cultural programs,” says Protean Gibril, President of the AARCH Society Board of Directors.

A passionate chronicler of the African American experience, her museum work includes developing interpretive themes for the soon-to-be-opened Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site. She also served as lead historian and writer for the “Journey to Freedom” exhibition at the Delaware History Museum chronicling the Delawarean Black experience from 1639 to the present.

Dr. Gooch will be a featured speaker at the 2023 Unity Ball, a fundraising event at New Spire Arts on October 28, co-hosted by AARCH Society and Jack and Jill of American Western Maryland Chapter.

We are excited to share the addition of two new members to the AARCH Society Board of Directors.

Former State Senator Ronald Young, Jr., began his career as a social studies teacher in Frederick County, and in 1969 was elected to the Frederick City Board of Alderman. In 1973, he was elected Mayor of Frederick, and won three consecutive re-elections in 1977, 1981 and 1985. In 2010, Young was elected to the Maryland State Senate, and served in that role for 12 years before retiring in 2022. He is an avid historian and Frederick County advocate, serving as a positive force in Frederick’s economic and cultural growth for decades. In Frederick City, he spearheaded the revitalization of Frederick’s historic downtown and the development of the Carroll Creek Linear Park and flood management system.

Sharon Isaacs is a retired federal employee who served as a Senior Administrative Officer and Deputy Director with agencies that include the Department of Commerce and the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Agency (NOAA). Her volunteer work over several years has included volunteering as an adult chaperone for the First Missionary Baptist Church Summer Youth Camp, and an IRS-certified volunteer income tax preparer for the AARP & Frederick County United Way Volunteer Income Tax Assistance programs. She recalls her father actively participating in sit-ins to integrate former Frederick businesses such as the Tivoli Theater (now Weinberg Center) and Snow White Grill.

A Letter from Our President

Juneteenth holiday. Texas emancipated the enslaved on June 19, 1865, two and a half years after Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, when Union troops arrived in Galveston to let the enslaved know that they were free, starting the nation’s healing. It’s rarely taught. Rethinking our nation’s past helps us understand each other.

After independence, people and systems ensured that Blacks continued to work for plantation owners instead of owning land. Today’s wealth gaps are a result.

Today, several states have deleted American history and anti-racist training from public school curricula at a time when comprehending our past is vital to our future. Juneteenth reminds us that discussing our past strengthens and unifies us. It clarifies current and future difficulties and builds faith and accountability in our systems instead of spreading hostility and blaming.

Policies and investments must be based on historical conditions. Knowledge—not atonement—is accountability.

Accept reality. The Public Health Service and CDC studied hundreds of southern African American men with untreated syphilis from 1932 to 1972 in the Tuskegee Study. 40 years. Syphilis was deliberately infected and left untreated, even after penicillin became available to treat the disease. Cases like the Tuskegee Study, Henrietta Lacks and professional football “race-norming” demonstrate long-term exploitation of Black people that has generated a profound, permanent distrust and disparity in healthcare and science. Juneteenth is a great time to build trust in ourselves and others and exhibit our resilience.

Before the George Floyd tragedy and protests, police officers were frequently found “not guilty” for behaviors that Black people had observed for years in their own communities. Then, those behaviors were caught on film for the world to see.

Law enforcement is just one facet of 400 years of discrimination in healthcare, housing, employment, finance, and education. The 1992 Los Angeles Riots and the Tulsa Massacre, in which a white mob burned down Greenwood, a Black hamlet in Oklahoma, killing hundreds of Black business leaders and displacing thousands, are turning points in our history, across many cities.

Tolerance doesn’t condemn. It investigates how various institutions support repeated negative behavior and proposes ways to eliminate their restrictive residues. Juneteenth shows that studying history may strengthen us by revealing what we can achieve and putting current, often unpleasant realities into perspective.

History can inspire us and provide us with a perspective on contemporary, often harsh situations. It can change the narrative for entire communities.

Juneteenth, like conversations about the Tulsa Massacre and other historical events, unites Americans to resist racism and build a better nation.

Protean Gibril, President
AARCH Society

AARCH Society celebrated Black History Month in Frederick, Md., with great events, tributes, and celebrations of our African American history, culture, and contributions. Here are some highlights!

• All month: Items from the AARCH Society Archival Collection filled the entry hall display cases at C. Burr Artz Library, as well as a timeline of notable African American pioneers and ‘firsts’ in Frederick County.
• All month: Yemi’s African Americans of Excellence exhibit appeared at Gaslight Gallery, featuring important members of Frederick County’s African American community, past and present.
• February 7: Board Member Barbara Thompson presented Held in Regard at Walkersville Library, highlighting little-known historical persons, places, and events in the African American community.
• February 12: AARCH Society re-screened “The Tale of the Lion” documentary at C. Burr Artz Library, featuring interviews with some of Frederick County’s oldest African Americans.
• February 23: AARCH President Protean Gibril spoke at Frederick County’s Black History Month Celebration, Black History in the Making, a Special Ceremony.
• February 26: Jackson Chapel United Methodist Church aired AARCH Society’s “Back to Our Bygone Days,” a new documentary featuring recollections from Lincoln School, Frederick County’s first and only secondary school for African Americans until the end of segregation.
• February 28: AARCH Society Vice President Seaven Gordon participated a Moving Us Forward and Maryland Public Television screening and panel discussion of Ric Burns’ “Driving While Black, Race, Space, and Mobility in America” at the Delaplaine Center.