African American Heritage Guide - 2025 African American Heritage Guide

From the rugged mountains of Western Maryland to the rushing waters of the Potomac River, across the magnificent Chesapeake Bay to the most charming Eastern Shore towns, you can uncover compelling stories of the people and places that helped shape life for African Americans.

Begin at an unassuming farmhouse near the Antietam National Battlefield, where abolitionist John Brown prepared for his ill-fated, pre-Civil War raid of Harpers Ferry. From there, move closer to Washington, D.C., where many sites in Maryland’s Capital Region — such as reconstructed foundations of two slave quarters at Northampton Plantation Archaeological Park — remain as testaments to the early sacrifices of African Americans.

Venture into Baltimore and you will discover museums, historic churches, a maritime park and other important destinations with African American ties throughout history. Docked at the city’s world-famous Inner Harbor is the USS Constellation, which was launched in 1854 and freed more than 700 Africans as the flagship of the U.S. African Squadron.

Throughout the capital city of Annapolis, statues and memorials honor such celebrated African Americans as Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, North Pole explorer Matthew Henson, pioneering medical doctor Aris T. Allen and Roots author Alex Haley. Near the Haley statue, situated on the historic City Dock, is a tribute to one of the writer’s ancestors, Kunta Kinte, who arrived there aboard a slave ship. The Annapolis area is also home to historic schoolhouses, as well as the Banneker-Douglass Museum.