Introducing Steve Carioti

I am a native of Prince George's County, Maryland, where I curently reside with my fiance Bobi Sofou and her daughter Anna. I am the third child of five boys. My parents also reside in Prince George's County.

I am a full time student at Prince George's Community College (PGCC) in Largo, Maryland. I plan to complete my studies at PGCC in the spring of 2012 at which point I will recieve my Associate's degree in General Studies. Upon completetion, I plan to transfer to Bowie State University, where I will pursue a Bachelor's degree in history.

I've lived in Maryland for most of my life, except for a seven year period where I lived in Los Angeles, California. I worked as a production and writer's assistant at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California on such shows as "Hanging with Mr. Cooper," "The West Wing," "ER," and several other productions.

I love playing most sports; however, hockey is my favorite. I also enjoy reading historically significant books that typically center around the American Revolutionary period.

I recently started a stamp collection and vintage toy car collection. I enjoy visiting museums in my spare time. The National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. is my favorite museum to visit.

My longtime goals are to secure a position working in the field of history and to further my education, once I've completed my studies at Bowie State University.

Pictured: Steve Carioti

Introducing Michelle Angeli

I grew up and still live in Gambrills, Maryland, just north-west of Annapolis. At a young age, I experienced the local history. Many school trips were to Annapolis and many other local historical places. So now it's exciting to be working in the Sylvia Gaither Garrison Library. I have had many interests since I was little. I'm an avid reader; I sing; and play the violin. Right now, I sing in my church choir and praise band, "Whatever". I've been singing most of my life, but I was also interested in dance for 13 years, even performing in the Nutcracker annually. Finally, I've always had an interest in History. My love for history started in the elementary school. My teachers and later my professors always taught history with so much enthusiasm that I wanted to learn more.

After graduating from South River High School in 2003, I continued my education at Anne Arundel Community College (AACC), where I continued Music and History courses. I performed with the AACC Orchestra and the Choir. I did well academically with being on the Dean's list from 2004-2005 and became a Phi Theta Kappa member. With an Associates of Arts degree in general studies, I transferred to University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC). At UMBC, I started to concentrate on a major and realized I was taking enough history courses to get a history degree. While I was there, I was lucky enough to get a chance to study abroad in Ireland for a year at University College Cork (UCC) from 2006-2007 where I learned the history of the Early Christians, Women in Irish Society, Marriage, Vikings and the Ancient Celts. I continued to sing and learn the fiddle there. I received an award as runner up in RAG Idol, a singing event at School, in 2006. When I came home, I took as many European and Asian History courses as I could. At UMBC, it was required to take United States History courses, so I took a wide range of classes from Native Americans, Early American, the Founding Fathers, Women in European and Colonial Societies, the History of the Paintings, Architecture, Places and People during the Renaissance of Italy and Northern Europe, Japanese History through Film, and Western Civilizations. Finally, I graduated from UMBC in December 2008 with a Bachelor's of Arts degree in History.

My history lessons did not end there. I've been able to travel to places I learned about in school and church. I went to Vienna, Salzburg, Prague and Budapest in 2006 with a Collegiate Laureate Music Delegation program. We learned about the Cathedrals, Opera theaters and music schools. In 2008, with the Ecumenical Church Choir (POP ETC), we went to Germany where we sang in the Cathedrals of Leipzeig, Halle, Dresden, Wittenburg, Munich and Franfurt. I had the opportunity to sing a solo over Bach's grave. Awesome musical history! I love when my two favorites, history and music go hand in hand. In January 2010, I went to Egypt with my parents and in May 2011 we went to Turkey. We plan to go to Peru in October 2011. I loved the travelling experience and learning the history of the places I visit. I plan to have many more of these experiences.

Pictured: Michelle Angeli

Music to Our Ears

Last week the Banneker-Douglass Museum opened the Music to Our Ears exhibition. This exhibit is the product of a school-museum-community collaboration between the museum, Anne Arundel County Public Schools, Banneker-Douglass Museum Foundation, and the Blacks of the Chesapeake Foundation. The exhibit tells the story of Carr's and Sparrow's Beaches, two local landmarks with rich connections to the community. Over the course of the spring semester, Education & Public Programs Manager Genevieve Kaplan worked with Southern Senior High School's African American history class to interview community members about their experiences at the beaches. While conducting oral history interviews, the students were able to get first hand knowledge of the beaches and take an active role in documenting history.

Students spent the semester interviewing family members who attended the beaches as well as community members who worked and attended the beaches. Through their interviews they uncovered stories about sneaking into the beaches, varying disciplinary measures taken by security staff to maintain the peace, the many celebrities and performers coming to the beaches, and the lasting impact these landmarks had on the lives of people in Anne Arundel County and beyond.

The students were also fortunate to be able to research historic photos and newspaper articles thanks to the Afro's Black History Archives online and the digitized photos on the Maryland State Archives's website. These images were combined by the Print and Design staff at Anne Arundel County Public Schools with text written by the students and edited by museum and school staff to create exhibition panels. The exhibit panels tell many stories of life at the beaches in full color.

The exhibition opened last Tuesday to a crowd of nearly 75 people. The students shared their research as well as took questions from the audience on the beaches. During the presentation, the students shared their reflections on the semester as well as their heightened pride in their community and its history.

This is the second year for the Music to Our Ears project. The first year involved students at Annapolis High School conducting research and interviews with the final result being a mini-documentary. The documentary will start screening in the museum in a few weeks as part of the exhibition.