Vienna Community Information Radio
The Community Informatics Institute (CII) has received an FCC license to launch a low-powered FM community radio station, WVCI-LP, located in the historic waterfront Town of Vienna, in Dorchester County, Maryland. It is believed the town was named after Emperor Unnacokasimon of the Nanticoke tribe. Located directly on the Nanticoke River, where freshwater and saltwater meet, the Vienna Waterfront was recently renamed “Emperor’s Landing” – harkening back to its importance as a port and trade center for Chesapeake Bay commerce.
With about 250 residents today, Vienna was an active trading post of the Nanticoke Indians when Captain John Smith encountered it in 1608[1], became one of the nation’s first Ports of Entry in 1706[2], and was home to Maryland’s Civil War governor who is credited with preventing Maryland from joining the Confederacy in 1861[3]. Just outside of Vienna, Harriet Tubman was born enslaved on the Brodess Farm and later led dozens of other slaves to freedom through the Underground Railroad[4]. Today, “Maryland’s Dorchester County is ground zero for climate change on Chesapeake Bay, as rising seas claim more and more land.”[5]
The Community Informatics Institute’s rural Vienna location affords it a front row seat to our nation’s history of systemic racism and puts it on the frontlines of climate change – all within 90 miles of the nation’s capital. WVCI-LP Vienna, expected to go live in 2025, aims to life up voices that emanate from and speak to this interesting part of the world.
[2] https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=63292
[3] https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/educ/exhibits/hicks/html/intro.html#:~:text=Thomas%20Holliday%20Hicks%20(1798%2D1865,strongly%20Unionist%20and%20rejected%20secession.
[4] https://harriettubmanbyway.org/
[5] https://e360.yale.edu/features/on-the-chesapeake-a-precarious-future-of-rising-seas-and-high-tides
We look forward to using our public radio station to share information by and for Vienna and surrounding communities.