Hilda C. Landers Library & Archives

Maryland’s Black History

by

Spaces in Maryland dedicated to preserving and showcasing Black History

Did you know that there are many spaces within the state of Maryland that are dedicated to preserving and highlighting Black and African American History? This month and into March, the library will be displaying a list of spaces within the state of Maryland that are markers of Black History, as well as related books and DVDs. The display is located on the 1st floor of the library right across from the circulation desk and above the DVD collection.

Our research team for this project consisted of student interns Elisia Lewis, Brynn Desmond, and librarian, Haley Galloway. They worked to research the history and stories behind the monuments, spaces, and museums dedicated to African American heritage within the state of Maryland.

This map showcases places within the state of Maryland that have been built, curated, and highlight Black History:

map of Maryland with location icons notated through the state. A key of numbers and names of locations to the right of the image.

*note that this is not a complete list of spaces – we hope to continue to grow this list. If you have a space you would like to share please email slreyes@smcm.edu*

Full list of spaces are at the end of this post with additional links and information.

Our research team selected and researched 5 spaces out of the list to highlight:

United States Colored Troops Memorial Monument
Location: Lexington Park, MD

The United States Colored Troops Memorial Monument is dedicated to the Colored Troops, soldiers, and sailors from St. Mary’s County who served the Union during the Civil War. More than 700 enslaved and free Black men from St. Mary’s County joined the Colored Troops to fight for the emancipation of all enslaved people. The statue depicts a confidently posed Black soldier, symbolizing the personal autonomy granted to Black men by joining the United States Colored Troops—an autonomy which had historically been stripped from Black people. The memorial commemorates the lasting legacy of the United States Colored Troop Soldiers and their triumphant bravery in fighting a war against racial oppression.

Honoring the 38th Colored Infantry Regiment, with more than 700 Black soldiers being from St. Mary’s County. This monument also honors “medal of honor recipients, all Union Soldiers, and Sailors from Saint Mary’s County who served during the Civil War” per inscription. Its founders are Idolia Shubrooks (resident and veteran’s granddaughter), United Committee for Afro-American Contributions (UCAC), Sons of Union Veterans. With funding by the community and bond bills by representatives Roy Dyson and John Bohanan.

  • Depiction of monument: A Black man wearing a Union army uniform with a rifle slung over his shoulder, posing strongly.
  • Important Historical Figures: Pvt. William H. Barnes and Sgt. James H. Harris who earned the Medal of Honor for gallantry at the Battle of New Market Heights, Va.
  • Sculptor: Gary Casteel
  • Inscriptions: “United States Colored Troops (USCT)
    This monument is dedicated in grateful tribute to the United States Colored Troops of St. Mary’s County. It honors medal of honor recipients, all Union Soldiers, and Sailors from Saint Mary’s County who served during the Civil War (1861-1865) Dedicated June 16, 2012. All honor and all glory to the emaciated slaves, freedmen, and all noble sons of St. Mary’s County who fought during the Civil War to save the Union and secure the heritage of human freedom.”

Sources: Visit St. Mary’s, SoMD News, SoMD Equity in History Coalition, Historical Marker Database

Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial
Location; Historic Annapolis, MD

The Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial in Annapolis, Maryland, stands as a powerful tribute to the resilience of family heritage and the legacy of those who endured the transatlantic slave trade. Inspired by Alex Haley’s groundbreaking research and his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Roots: The Saga of an American Family, the memorial honors the journey of Kunta Kinte, an enslaved African who arrived in Annapolis in 1767, and Alex Haley’s relentless quest to uncover his family’s history. This memorial holds profound significance as the only site in the United States that commemorates the name and documented arrival point of an enslaved African. It serves as a poignant reminder of the struggles and triumphs of Black Americans and the importance of preserving ancestral stories. Located at the Annapolis City Dock, the memorial invites visitors to reflect on the enduring impact of history and the power of reclaiming one’s roots.

While living in Tennessee with his grandparents, Alex Haley learned the story of his African ancestor, Kunta Kinte. Motivated by his desire to find out more about his family’s history, Mr. Haley began a years-long research endeavor to find the true story of his ancestor. His efforts took him from oral historians in his ancestral village in Gambia to the Maryland State Archives, where he found historical records recounting the movements of a British merchant ship arriving from Gambia to Annapolis, holding 98 captured Africans. It is believed that Kunta Kinte was among this group of enslaved individuals advertised for auction in 1767. (Kunta Kinte – Alex Haley Foundation.)

The Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial honors the tireless efforts of Alex Haley to uncover the history of his family, something that is often difficult to accomplish for the descendants of enslaved Africans. The Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial remains the only memorial in the United States that commemorates the actual name and place of arrival of an enslaved African.

  • Depiction: Three separate installations that consist of a compass rose, depicting a globe centered on Annapolis, MD; a sculpture group that shows Alex Haley recounting the tale of Kunta Kinte to a group of children; and a story wall the incorporates quotes and themes from Alex Haley’s award-winning novel, Roots.
  • Dedicated: June 12, 2002
  • Founders: Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley foundation under the direction of President Leonard A. Blackshear.
  • Funding: Local citizens & the Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Foundation
  • Important Historical Figures: Kunta Kinte, Alex Haley
  • Artists: Site Designer: Gary S. Schwerzler, Sculpture Group: Ed Dwight, Story Wall & Information Stand: Peter D. Tasi & Patricia Fisher McHold, Story Wall Narrative: Wiley A. Hall, Construction: Joe Baker
  • Inscriptions: “Alex Haley, in his family’s story, Roots, shows how the strength of the human spirit to overcome challenges comes from maintaining strong family connections and pride in one’s heritage. Here, Alex shares heritage stories with children of diverse ethnic groups.
    Take time to share heritage stories with children so they can pass on their proud heritage and learn respect for the heritage of others”

Sources: Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Foundation;  Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial Annapolis; Alex Haley

Lillie Carroll Jackson Civil Rights Museum
Location: Baltimore, MD

The Lillie Carroll Jackson Civil Rights Museum opened its doors in 1978 when Virginia Jackson-Kiah turned her mother’s home into a museum. The museum’s original owner and namesake, Dr. Lillie Carroll Jackson was a staunch civil rights activist in the Baltimore region. Jackson was the Baltimore NAACP chapter’s president for 35 years during which the NAACP won several civil rights cases against segregated public and private institutions, including the University of Maryland. Under Jackson, the NAACP orchestrated boycotts, funded Black education, and held voter registration drives.

The Lillie Carroll Jackson Museum not only honors Jackson’s legacy, but the legacy of civil rights in Maryland. The museum features several galleries ranging from personal information about the Jackson family and the Baltimore NAACP chapter to the earliest freedom fighters like Frederick Douglass.

Sources: Lillie Carroll Jackson Museum Official Website; Maryland State Archives;  Baltimore Heritage

Josiah Henson Museum & Park
Location: Bethesda, MD

The Riley/Bolton House, located in Montgomery County, Maryland, is a historic site tied to the life of Josiah Henson, an author, abolitionist, and minister who was enslaved on the Riley Plantation. Henson’s 1849 autobiography, The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, vividly detailed his experiences in slavery and escape to freedom, inspiring Harriet Beecher Stowe’s groundbreaking novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

While Henson’s story became a cornerstone of the abolitionist movement, the actual cabin he lived in no longer exists, having been demolished in the 1950s. This property, once part of the plantation where Henson toiled as a field laborer and overseer, now serves as a museum and educational center dedicated to his legacy, the broader history of slavery in Maryland, and the ongoing struggle for racial equality.

Sources: National Park Service-Josiah Henson; Washington Post- Uncle Tom’s Cabin, ZigerSnead Architects- The Planning of Josiah Henson Park; Josiah Henson Museum Park Official Site;  Montgomery County Planning Board- Josiah Henson Park

Camp Stanton
Location: Hughsville, MD

Camp Stanton, located on the west side of the Patuxent River in Charles County, Southern Maryland, was established in October 1863 as a recruitment and training camp for Black soldiers during the Civil War. Named for Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, it trained the 7th, 9th, 19th, and 30th Regiments of the United States Colored Troops (USCT), who played a pivotal role in the Union’s final campaigns in Virginia.

The camp’s establishment marked a turning point in the fight for freedom, as it provided enslaved and free Black men the opportunity to enlist and fight for emancipation. Today, the site is commemorated by a historic roadside marker near the village of Benedict, honoring the bravery and contributions of the USCT soldiers who trained there and helped secure Union victory.

Sources: Camp Stanton | VisitMaryland.org; Camp Stanton | Charles County Tourism

Full list of spaces notated on the image of the map:

  1. Charles Albert Tindley Memorial Bruder Hill Building
  2. Edythe M. Jolley Museum and Cultural Center
  3. Doleman Black Heritage Museum
  4. United States Colored Troops Memorial Monument
  5. African-American Monument and Freedom Park
  6. Commemorative to Enslaved People of Southern Maryland
  7. Historic Sotterley:
  8. Reginald F. Lewis Museum
  9. Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial
  10. Banneker-Douglass-Tubman Museum
  11. Frederick Douglass bronze statue & Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park
  12. Lillie Carroll Jackson Civil Rights Museum
  13. Josiah Henson Museum & Park
  14. Black Arts District
  15. Camp Stanton
  16. Columbia Air Center
  17. Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park and Visitor Center
  18. Sugarland – historic Sugarland church

 

Black Lives Matter Book Display

by

On October 3rd, the Black Student Union and the SGA Programs Board held a special event called BLM @ St. Mary’s. Held to support the Black community at SMCM and to serve as a forum for discussion about racial injustice, the event featured speakers include the Department of Political Science’s Dr. Sahar Shafqat, and interim Chief Diversity Officer Kelsey Bush, as well as an open mic segment on the waterfront during which students shared creative works. In response to a request from the Programs Board and the BSU, the Library has put together a book display of materials related to racial justice issues, including systemic racism and police brutality, as well as highlighting works by Black authors. The display, located across from the Circulation Desk on the Library’s first floor, will be up for the rest of the semester, and all books are available to check out. Come visit the library and learn more about race and social justice!

Library BLM Book Display

The Library’s Black Lives Matter Book Display

Would You Rather?: #bookstofilm

by

The Revenant

Michael Punke’s 2002 novel, The Revenant tells the story of frontiersman Hugh Glass as he navigates the wilderness in order to hunt down the man who killed his son. The story follows Glass as he travels the wilderness of Montana and South Dakota, surviving multiple attacks on his life, by both humans and animals. The movie was adapted into a film of the same name directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu in 2015, which was actually the film that Leonardo DiCaprio won his first and only Oscar award for. Would you rather live in the wilderness or live in a major city?

Gone Girl

Gillian Flynn’s 2012 novel Gone Girl is a mystery novel that tracks the tumultuous marriage of Nick and Amy Dunne. On their wedding anniversary Amy goes missing and all the signs point to Nick as the culprit. However, as the story continues it becomes very clear that not all things are as obvious as they seem, as the story is full of unpredictable surprises that leaves the reader hooked on every page. In 2014 director David Fincher directed the movie adaptation for the novel, with the screenplay being written by Flynn. The film visualizes the story into a physiological thriller, and like the novel, it deceives the audience up until the last moment. Would you rather live an unhappy, but safe life in your hometown with your family or would you rather move away to an unknown location and start your life over?

Life of Pi

Yann Martel’s 2002 novel, Life of Pi, is a book that explores the time that character Pi Patel spent shipwrecked with only a tiger named Richard Parker as company. The alternating narrative structure and undertones of spiritually make the novel a unique read. The movie adaptation directed by Ang Lee in 2012, brings the shipwreck to the big screen, giving viewers the visualization of Patel and Richard Parker’s adventure. Would you rather be stranded in the middle of an ocean or would you rather be stranded on a deserted island?

Catch Me If You Can

In the semi-biographical novel Catch Me If You Can by Frank Abagnale, the main character Frank Abagnale is a conman who cashed over $2 million dollars using fraudulent checks and multiple identities. Frank chooses a life of crime in order to live the lavish lifestyle he desired. The movie adaptation, directed by Steven Spielberg in 2002, follows the life of Abagnale, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, as he assumes various identities in order to conceal his crimes. Would you rather live lavishly but dishonestly, like Frank Abagnale, or would you rather live plainly but with integrity?

Interview With the Vampire

 Interview with the Vampire, written by Annie Rice in 1976, details the life of vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac. His life is filled with stories of death, betrayal, and love as Louis travels from America to Europe and meets various other vampires, dealing with the issues that come along with immortality. The movie adaptation from 1994 directed by Neil Jordan, stars Brad Pitt as Louis and was nominated for multiple awards. Would you rather live life eternally as a vampire or would you rather live a mortal life as a human?

Crazy Rich Asians

Crazy Rich Asians, written by Kevin Kwan in 2013, is the first book of a trilogy, with a main focus on introducing the Asian culture to the Western audiences. The book surrounds two main characters, Rachel Chu and Nicholas “Nick” Young’s romance relationships and the problems, both culturally and financially,  that they have to face from their parents and grandparents. Those problems presented in both the book and movie corresponds to the family issues that happen in current Chinese families. Would you rather give up your wealth and reputation altogether for love or stay in the comfort zone and do what the family asked?

TOB X: March Madness for books

by

TOB XLast Friday the Morning News Tournament of Books declared The Good Lord Bird by James McBride the winner of TOB X. I added this to my to-read pile along with one other TOB competitor, Long Division by first time author Kiese Laymon whose writing judge Héctor Tobar described as, “a tour de force of colloquialisms and street slang put to intellectual good use,” before eliminating it from the competition in the first round. It lost to Donna Tartt’s Goldfinch a novel I am committed to never reading.

Two is not an impressive number of newly discovered reads and I didn’t go into the tournament having read a lot of the books. Just three and a half, At Night We Walk in Circles by Daniel Alarcón, Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri and about half of A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki.

This actually reflects my sense of my 2013 reading year. I don’t have the stats but it wasn’t a year full of books I loved. Few of the books I liked made the TOB, only the Alarcón and Atkinson. And The Lowland is by far Lahiri’s weakest work. So I took a look at the TOB long list to see how that stacked up and found a lot of books I read or that were on my to-read list that didn’t make the cut. There were a lot. Read Pamela’s recommendations from the TOB long list.

2013 Tournament of Books

by

The Orphan Master's Son defeats The Fault in Our Stars and wins the 2013 TOBMarch Madness gets us all in the end. For the last three years, the library has been following The Morning News Tournament of Books. Yes, we are fans and the brackets are displayed in an exhibit case in the library.

This year’s winner is The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson. Although the tournament started with a play-in round of Iraq war themed novels won by Billy Lynn’s Long Half-Time Walk, the official opening round started with The Round House by Louise Erdrich versus The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. The Fault in Our Stars was the staff book club’s March pick so we have a soft spot for it (along with most of the US.) Green’s win over Erdrich set up the first of two match-ups between The Fault of Our Stars and The Orphan Master’s Son, the quarterfinals.

Pre-game play-in roundOpening RoundQuarterfinal match up TFIOS v TOMS

After The Orphan Master’s Son eliminated The Fault in Our Stars in the QF it moved on to semifinals against Chris Ware’s comic box, Building Stories –

The semifinalist advancethe zombie round

and was defeated! Goodbye Orphan Master’s Son. So how do two titles knocked out of the tournament end up in championship final? They come back as zombies. In the TOB books rise from the dead. Zombie #1, The Fault in Our Stars earns its spot in the final with a controversial win over Building Stories and Zombie #2, The Orphan Master’s Son takes down Gone Girl.

— Pamela Mann

Interview with Tiko Mason

by

Japenese American Experience Exhibit PhotoI’m following up on my last post about the Haiku Cubes and the Japanese American Experience exhibit with an interview with Tiko Mason. The concept and the content of the exhibit was her idea I thought I’d let her explain it to you.

Pamela: Can you share with our readers where the idea for the library exhibit came from?
Tiko: This past summer I participated in the St. Mary’s Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SMURF) program. I had intended to research the Japanese-American experience from the arrival of the issei (first generation Japanese to come to America) to the yonsei (my generation) using my family’s personal experience as text. Prior to the project I knew my great-grandfather Seizaburo’s name, that he had lived in Seattle, and that something bad had happened to him during the war. I had no idea that on my first visit to the National Archives and Records Administration I would happen upon a gigantic file, replete with over a hundred documents, handwritten letters, memorandums from the Department of Justice and the FBI, all topped with Seizaburo’s mug shot and fingerprints. My project morphed into a creative engagement with this file, supported by other historical research, that grappled with my personal questions of identity in relation to this not-so-distant family member from the not-so-distant past. The documents in this exhibit come from that research.

Pamela:  Had you read When the Emperor was Divine before you started your project?
Tiko: I did read When the Emperor was Divine prior to beginning the project (at the suggestion of my excellent adviser Professor Beth Charlebois). I also re-read it 3 or 4 times during the course of the summer (while doing my research). Julie Otsuka’s language and description of these events sparked my own creativity. I came to see so much of my great-grandfather Seizaburo in the father from the story, and there are points where the narrative eerily describes my own family’s experience.

[Read more…]

Haiku Cubes

by

Haiku CubeHaiku Cube Haiku Cube

If you’ve been in the library you may have noticed these cubes around the building. The text on the cubes are haikus written by St. Mary’s students in response to this year’s FYE summer reading book, Julie Otsuka’s When the Emperor Was Divine. They serve as companion pieces to an exhibit co-curated by Tiko Mason on the Japanese-American experience during World War II.

You may view the exhibit on the 2nd floor of the library in the exhibit case by the elevators. For off-campus viewing, check out the exhibit photos on our Facebook page. For more information about the topic see the “Japanese-American Internment 1942-1945″ Research Guide. 

Contact Us:

(240) 895-4264

ask@smcm.libanswers.com
47645 College Drive
St. Mary's City, MD, 20686-3001

Follow Us

Follow Library News

Support the Library