2019-11-06 01:04:08
Some of the most memorable African-American cultural attractions in the country are in Maryland, and it all begins with our biggest city, Baltimore. Here, you will find museums, parks and other destinations celebrating the likes of Mother Mary Lange and music legends Eubie Blake, Chick Webb and Cab Calloway. View works by contemporary African-American artists at The Baltimore Museum of Art or the Maryland Historical Society Museum, which also displays rare portraits by Baltimorean Joshua Johnson. The National Great Blacks in Wax Museum takes visitors on a unique journey with lifelike exhibits spanning centuries. Then visit the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture. Just a short walk from Baltimore’s famous Inner Harbor, the museum has an acclaimed permanent collection that focuses on Maryland’s African- American experience. The Baltimore National Heritage Area offers walking tours of the two-mile Pennsylvania Avenue Heritage Trail, along which storyboard panels speak to the area’s jazz history and its role in the Civil Rights movement. The newly designated Pennsylvania Avenue Black Arts and Entertainment District aims to promote and support African American artists and entertainment venues in the area, in a nod to the neighborhood’s roots. Further south, enjoy the waterfront views from the Frederick Douglass- Isaac Myers Maritime Park while learning about the nation’s first black-owned shipyard. In Oella, near Ellicott City, the 142-acre Benjamin Banneker Historical Park & Museum has nature trails that surround a museum featuring exhibits recounting Banneker’s life as a scientist, astronomer and mathematician. Another museum — in Maryland’s capital, Annapolis — is named for Banneker and fellow Marylander Frederick Douglass, a former slave who gained audiences with Abraham Lincoln and other political leaders. You can also travel back 350 years via the African- American Heritage Society Museum in La Plata or take a trip on the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway, an All-American Road that winds through water-laced landscapes. Learn about more ways to discover Maryland’s African-American culture and heritage at www.visitmaryland.org.
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