Stitch by stitch, many hands are joining to tell the untold stories of the black men who have worked the waters of the Chesapeake Bay.

Joan Gaither, an artist and college professor from Severn who created a community storytelling quilt focused on President Barack Obama, is back with another quilt and a new mission: to share the history of the bay's black watermen.

"These are new stories I'm learning myself," Gaither said as she oversaw a recent quilting session in Annapolis Thursday.

The quilt was spread across several tables at the Wiley H. Bates Legacy Center in the old Bates High School...