Jaelon T. Moaney
Jaelon T. Moaney is the Deputy Director of the Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience at Washington College. He is an interdisciplinary visionary, ruralist, historic resource steward, civic change agent, and Eastern Shoreman.
Jaelon’s lineage in the region dates back several generations. His ancestors’ contributions were focal in establishing what is believed to be the only American village founded by formerly enslaved soldiers, Copperville, as well as the earliest free Black community in the nation. Affording him an opportunity to carry these legacies forward, Gov. Wes Moore appointed Jaelon in 2023 as the youngest to serve on the Maryland Commission on African American History & Culture, established in 1969 as the first-ever ethnic commission in America.
A descendant of founding Black families in both Kent and Talbot counties, Jaelon graduated from Easton High School and holds a B.A. with honors from Williams College. An unwavering commitment to producing scholarship centering life on, and along, Chesapeake Bay tributaries earned him the Sentinels of the Republic Prize in Government and Gaius C. Bolin 1889 Prize in Africana Studies. His passion for elevating all-things-Delmarva is visible through his work, which honors the Peninsula’s renowned legacies and landscapes that uplifts centuries of revolutionary pillars, rural ingenuity and Tidewater resilience.
Over the past decade, Jaelon has developed into a national leader in the U.S. preservation movement through his advocacy on Capitol Hill and in state capitols across the nation. His policy expertise has contributed to the designation of the Southern Maryland National Heritage Area encompassing Calvert, Charles, St. Mary’s and southern Prince George’s counties, which President Joe Biden signed into law in January 2023. Other legislative successes include the unanimous confirmation of the Hon. Sara C. Bronin as the first person of color to serve as Chair of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation; the expansion and redesignation of Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park to four locations beyond the historic site in Kansas; Bronzeville-Black Metropolis National Heritage Area in Chicago, Illinois; Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument in Mississippi and Illinois; Blackwell School National Historic Site in Texas; and more.
Always mindful of investing in just futures, Jaelon currently supports his alma mater on the Williams-Mystic Alumni Council by advising immersive-learning projects, as an ambassador to prospective students and strategic advisor for institutional leaders. Locally, he’s the co-founder of The Needle’s Eye Academy—a multilingual, multicultural means of unapologetic literary empowerment for the Black & Brown youth of MD's Eastern Shore. He also serves as an elected member of the Board of Directors for the Talbot County Public Schools Education Foundation, the Maryland Sea Grant College External Advisory Board and the Maryland Humanities Center for the Book One Maryland One Book Selection Committee.