Kelci Reedy can’t speak from experience about attending her family’s early reunions. The first one was in 1926.

For Reedy, 32, the annual family reunion of the Quanders, an African American lineage that’s been documented for hundreds of years, is a weekend filled with gathering, food and reconnecting, especially with elders.

The freelance photographer based in Anne Arundel County said it’s important to know where one comes from and hear stories from the past, accomplishments and careers family members have forged over the years.

Summertime is an opportunity for Black people — particularly those who live in the Northeast and upper mid-Atlantic — to connect with their Southern roots and strengthen relationships with far-flung family members. It often provides a chance to celebrate traditions mostly established before and during the Black Great Migration out of the segregated South from 1910 to 1970.

These traditions and activities serve as ways to preserve connection for Black people despite slavery’s forced family separations, the Black Great Migration and discriminatory treatment based on race.

Edwin T. Johnson, special assistant to the provost and university historian at Morgan State University, said annual summer events like family reunions reconnect the Northern branch of the family with the South — typically at the home of the matriarch of the family.

Other traditions, such as white parties, fish fry dinners, music festivals, destination travels for the wealthy to places like Martha’s Vineyard and Sag Harbor, afford Black people a safe space before returning to the pressures that many face of daily discrimination, Johnson said.

“You don’t have to worry about the scrutiny of the oppressor,” Johnson said, also adding that Black fraternities and sororities known as the “Divine 9″ typically have their annual conventions during the summertime, following other Black traditions.

Touring historically Black campuses

Black high schoolers from June to August also visit historically Black colleges and universities, either as part of a group trip or with their families.

Cherise Bromley, 54, traces some of her son’s biggest life moments to a 2013 summer trip she planned to Howard University. The Washington school’s alumnae include author Toni Morrison, former presidential candidate Kamala Harris and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Isabel Wilkerson.

She wanted to show her son, David Currie IV, the importance of an HBCU. She required he apply to at least two HBCUs in addition to other selections he chose, including the University of Southern California and the University of Maryland, College Park (he was accepted at all 10 schools to which he applied).

“It’s important for impressionable students to be in an environment where you see people who not only look like you but also have some of the same ideals, especially when you’re away from your family,” she recalled.

Currie, who now lives in Brewers Hill, fell in love with Howard, known by its supporters as “The Mecca,” and its legacy, high level of academic achievement and rich urban culture in a historic community.

“He’s made lifelong friends from all across the country whom he sees often,” said Bromley, a director of sales and marketing who lives in Windsor Mill. “One of them introduced him to his girlfriend, Madison Brown. They’re recently engaged. His HBCU experience was irreplaceable.”

Returning to the South

The summer is also a time for Northern Black families to take trips to the South to visit family or to send their children there to live with relatives while school’s out. Parents say, during this time, their children connect with the extended family and experience some of the places and traditions they left behind.

Dr. Nia Banks said she wants to give her 9-year-old daughter, Amira, some of the freedom and independence she gained growing up as a child in her native Greensboro, North Carolina. So next summer Amira will be with her cousins and their father, Uncle Ridgely.

“It was safe. It was communal. There wasn’t a lot of traffic. People are used to seeing kids go by unattended, which was normal,” the 50-year-old Federal Hill resident recalled. “We were relatively free. That created a lot of confidence in your conflict resolution.”

On an earlier family trip, Banks watched Amira struggle with a flat tire on her bicycle, which planted the seed that her daughter might benefit from a full summer in the South learning more autonomy.

“It’s important for her to have that connection with who she is and where her family is from,” Banks explained.

Partying in all white

Since 2005, Baltimore has had an all-white party hosted by event producer Marcy Crump, her business partner Phil Crump and Nicole L. Nichelson, co-founder of the event. What started in a downtown Baltimore venue space that could hold only 75 people has grown to welcome at least 2,000 flaunting their best white summery outfits at Lexington Market last month.

Although there are several iterations of all-white parties in different communities, the themed gathering within Black culture is a relatively new tradition dating to hip-hop-themed parties in the 1990s in the Hamptons on eastern Long Island in New York and in Miami. There are also spiritual factors in wearing all white and gathering that are connected to African religious traditions.

“All-white parties for us are a staple,” said Marcy Crump, who compared it to summertime cookouts.

This year’s gathering took up the plaza next to the Lexington Market. White tents shaded all-white chairs and tables with white tablecloths. Marcy Crump credits the longevity of the all-white party on maintaining a “high-quality” level with the event and people reciprocating that vibe.

The all-white affair is also a chance for people to lean in to their own fashion and style while wearing a shade that often complements melanated skin.

“People really look good. It’s so high energy, and everybody is in a good mood,” Marcy Crump said.

Celebrating church traditions

In the summer, the faith community turns to Bible camps, tent revivals and the fish fry to serve and connect with congregants and neighbors.

One sign is when the tent is pitched outside Sacred Zion Church, a predominantly Black Pentecostal church in Allendale, during the summer. Bishop Telli T. Hardy, who was raised in Cherry Hill by his great-grandmother from South Carolina, has a favorite batter and secret sauce he likes to use before placing whiting and rainbow trout into piping-hot grease to cook.

“They keep trying to get it, but I can’t give it,” Hardy said about his recipe.

Even though he knows people can be picky about their potato salad, he puts together a big batch of his own as a side dish. He might even throw in his sweet, cast-iron-skillet cornbread, another family recipe from his great-grandmother.

The summer tradition also serves as a fundraiser for the church. When churchgoers prepare fried chicken and greens in the downstairs kitchen, the aromas reach every corner of the sanctuary filled with wooden pews, Hardy said.

“In the Black church, period, we are gonna have good church and good food,” he added.

Members of Sacred Zion Church, including Hardy, also head to larger convocations held around the country in the summer and host a local revival to celebrate children returning to school.

“We are quite busy making sure we can put our hands to help relieve as much as possible the pressure of the summer,” Hardy said.