These people, for the most part, were descendants of the first settlers, and were concerned about the lack in local history of the contributions of their ancestors.
This group became incorporated in May of 1990, and the Shelburne County Cultural Awareness Society (SCCAS) was born. The Society's mandate is to search out and preserve all history pertaining to Black Loyalists in Shelburne County.
In the process of discovery, a number of people guided and directed our personal searches and those of our student researchers. We wish to express our gratitude to Henry Bishop, curator, Black Cultural Centre; John MacKenny, Warden, Municipality of Shelburne, for his support of the Birchtown Project; Eleanor Robertson-Smith, Historian/Geneaologist; Patricia Randall, for her research of the Black Loyalist landgrants; to the individual landowners in Birchtown who allowed us access to their land; Gilbert Daye of Heritage Canada for assisting us in defining and financing the project.
Shelburne County Cultural Awareness Society