Some journeys are a long road to nowhere, or so the saying goes.
But for Louis S. Diggs, the roadways throughout Baltimore County lead to an often-untold history of African-American communities that he has dedicated more than a decade of his life to documenting through books.
"Some of these communities have been here since the 1700s, and here I am writing about these communities that during a couple hundred years, someone should have captured that history along the way," says Diggs, 75, whose books have profiled the county's 40 historic African-American settlements.
This month, Diggs will lead a tour -- as he often does throughout the year -- of historic Winters Lane, the place of his first book, one of nine he's penned since 1995. His other books include examining the history of Piney Grove, Turners Station, Catonsville, and Belltown in Owings Mills.
Diggs is reluctant to call himself a historian, a title bestowed on him by local residents and media alike. The Korean War veteran is more accepting of his designation as writer.
"As a child, I always liked to write," says Diggs with a quiet laugh. "I remember I used to sneak my older sister's typewriter and taught myself how to type. I always liked to express myself, and that has been a tremendous help to me putting these books together."
He credits his mother, Agrada Diggs, a teacher-turned-washerwoman and single mom of five children, for motivating him to become a writer.
"I know I got my writing from my mother. My mother would write [letters] and I would just watch her, and I always admired her writing," says Diggs, becoming misty-eyed at the thought.
But despite his early literary dabblings, Diggs would first follow a different life's path. After dropping out of Douglass High School in 1950, Diggs joined the all-black Maryland National Guard unit.
He was in the Army for 20 years, during which time he would write to the woman who would become his wife, Shirley Diggs, 74.
"That's how I got my wife," he says. "When I first met her, they sent me to Germany right away in 1953, and I wrote to this woman twice a day, three times on Sunday, with these flowery letters. That's why we've been together for almost 54 years."
Diggs eventually earned his high school diploma, a bachelor's in liberal arts and a master's in public administration from the University of Baltimore in 1982. After retiring from the Army, he taught military training at Ballou High School in Washington and he worked as supervisor in personnel for D.C. public schools, retiring in 1989.
