African American History Tours of Annapolis

One of the most frequent requests I receive in February deals with African American history tours in Annapolis. This year I am pleased to announce the Banneker-Douglass Museum is working with Watermark Tours and will be the final stop on their African American Heritage Tour. This tour, run in partnership with the Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Foundation is a two hour walking tour of Annapolis highlighting key historical sites including the Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial and the Thurgood Marshall Memorial.

The tour will be offered every Saturday in February beginning on 6 February 2010. Tours depart from the Information Booth at City Dock at 1:00 p.m. every Saturday and run two hours. Reservations are required and be aware you will need to bring a photo id along with you.

Tour prices are as follows:
$16.00 Adults
$10.00 Children 3-11
Free Ages 2 & Under

To purchase tickets, visit Watermark's website at http://www.watermarkjourney.com/ or you can purchase them from your guide at prior to the tour. For more information call 410.216.7600 or visit the African American Heritage Tour page on their website.

Don't forget to come into the museum at the end of your tour to see our new exhibitions which opened 2 weeks ago!

New Program Calendar Available

The Banneker-Douglass Museum February-March 2010 program calendar is now available. Check it out at www.bdmuseum.com.

Upcoming programs include:

6 February 2010 10:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
The Seneca Village Collaboration Praise House Art Program with Leslie King-Hammond and José J. Mapily

13 February 2010 1:00 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
Back to Africa? Book Discussion and Author Signing with Charles Nelson

13 February 2010 7:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.
Morgan State University Choir Concert at the Four Winds Performing Arts Center

20 February 2010 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Banneker-Douglass Museum Family Tour

26 February 2010 7:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.
Music through the Ages Community Concert at Annapolis High School

27 February 2010 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Picturing the Promise: Making Photo and Memory Quilts with Dr. Joan Gaither at the Lamond-Riggs Public Library, Washington, DC hosted by the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture

6 March 2010 1:00 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
Race Women, Race Man lecture by Dr. Sharon Harley, Chair of the African American Studies Program, University of Maryland, College Park

13 March 2010 1:00 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
The Science of Genealogy: DNA Testing with Gene-All-Of-Us founder Lyndra Marshall and Gina Paige, President of African Ancestry, Inc.

19 March 2010 3:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.
Genealogy Resource Fair at Sojourner-Douglass College hosted by the Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Foundation

20 March 2010
Maryland Day celebration at the Banneker-Douglass Museum

27 March 2010 11:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
3rd Annual Ladies Hats and Tea: Changing Perspectives

PORTRAITS OF COURAGE

A new exhibition at Banneker-Douglass showcases eight of Maryland’s African American heroes. The men and women depicted in these portraits represent African American achievement throughout Maryland’s state history in the fields of science, law publishing, politics, and civil rights activism. The portraits, six by Hughie Lee-Smith: Benjamin Banneker, Frederick Douglass, Thurgood Marshall, Harriet Tubman, John H. Murphy, and Lillie Benjamin Banneker, Frederick Douglass, Thurgood Marshall, Harriet Tubman, John H. Murphy, and Lillie, Carroll Jackson. Also included are the portraits of Herbert M. Frisby by Oliver Patrick Scott, and Nathaniel Gibbs’ painting of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And the portrait of Herbert M. Frisby by Oliver Patrick Scott, and Nathaniel Gibbs’ painting of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. are also representative of the mission of the Banneker-Douglass Museum, which strives to preserve the legacy of African Americans such as those presented here.
The portraits are closely tied to the history of the Banneker-Douglass Museum. The Banneker-Douglass Museum Foundation, Inc. commissioned the Banneker, Douglass, and Marshall portraits in 1976, its first year of existence; the unveiling of the Tubman, Murphy and Jackson portraits marked the 1984 opening of the museum in the former Mt. Moriah A.M.E. Church. The Frisby portrait is part of a major research Collection documenting Frisby’s Arctic exploration; and the King portrait is part of the museum’s holding of materials documenting the Civil Rights Movement. By exhibiting these portraits, we want to commemorate and celebrate the accomplishments of these individuals. The Banneker-Douglass Museum and the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture mission is to educate, document, and display the courage of each of the displayed Marylanders in achieving their goals. The exhibit will be open from January 16, 2010 until June 26, 2010.

Martin Luther King Weekend 2010

This weekend will be a busy one for the Banneker-Douglass Museum. We are opening three new exhibits, hosting an exhibition opening reception, participating in an MLK Day Volunteer Day event, and partnering on a concert.

As a heads up, the museum itself will be closed on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day which is Monday, January 18, 2010. Construction work will be taking place throughout the weekend to repair the roof and we can't have any visitors in the building. There are still plenty of museum-sponsored activities going on this weekend throughout Annapolis even if the building itself isn't open. I hope you can join us for at least one of the festivities listed below.

Celestial Praise House for Seneca Village Exhibition

Opening Reception and Artist Talk

Saturday, 16 January 2010

1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Location: Banneker-Douglass Museum, 84 Franklin St., Annapolis, MD, 21401

Free of charge and open to all ages.

Registration encouraged.

For more information, call 410.216.6180 or email BDMPrograms@goci.state.md.us.

Join artists Leslie King-Hammond and José J. Mapily for the Maryland debut of their artwork Celestial Praise House for Seneca Village. This large-scale plexiglass and beaded artwork depicts a portion of Seneca Village, an African-American settlement in New York’s Central Park. Meet the artists and learn how this amazing artwork was created.

The focal point of this exhibit is a commemorative sculpture by Maryland–based artists Leslie King-Hammond and José J. Mapily called Celestial Praise House for Seneca Village. The piece documents a nineteenth century settlement founded by African Americans and later displaced by New York City’s Central Park, the first urban landscaped park in the United States. This artwork was designed as part of the exhibition Legacies: Contemporary Artists Reflect on Slavery at the New York Historical Society in 2006.

In addition to the Celestial Praise House for Seneca Village piece, several never before seen artifacts from the collections of the Sylvia Gaither Garrison Library and the Banneker-Douglass Museum will be on display to highlight the lives of African Americans in Maryland during Seneca Village’s existence. Such objects will include manumission papers from Anne Arundel County, Allegany County, and Howard County; free-born African American verification papers; a receipt from a slave sale in Anne Arundel County; and first edition copies of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service 2010

Monday, 18 January 2010

11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Location: Wiley H. Bates Legacy Center, 1101 Smithville St., Annapolis, MD, 21401

Free.

Registration encouraged.

Open to all ages. Participants 16 and under must be accompanied by an adult.

For more information or to register, call 410.897.9207 or email Fay Mauro at Fay@volunteerannearundel.org.

To make Martin Luther King, Jr. Day a “Day On, Not a Day Off,” the Banneker-Douglass Museum is joining with the Volunteer Center for Anne Arundel County, Anne Arundel Conflict Resolution Center, Boys and Girls Clubs of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, Stanton Center and the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture to offer volunteer opportunities throughout the city of Annapolis. Honor Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2010 by participating in one of several volunteer opportunities including helping with youth activities at the Bates Boys and Girls Club, making school and family program materials for the Banneker-Douglass Museum, and helping to create a community collage on volunteering in Annapolis and Anne Arundel County. Come meet representatives from many organizations around the area and learn how you can volunteer throughout the year.

Mavis Staples Performs at the Ram's Head On Stage for Martin Luther King Day

Monday, 18 January 2010

8:00 p.m.

Location: Rams Head On Stage, 33 West St., Annapolis, MD, 21401

$65.00 per person

To purchase tickets, visit http://tickets.ramsheadonstage.com.

For more information, call the Rams Head On Stage at 410.268.4545.

In the 1960's Mavis Staples was at the center of the civil rights movement with her family band The Staple Singers. Through message songs like Why am I Treated So Bad? and March up Freedom Highway, Mavis became one of the strong voices of the movement. On January 18, Martin Luther King Day, Mavis will perform many of the freedom songs that she made famous then and now at a special show at Rams Head On Stage. Staples, often marched and performed with Dr. King and throughout her 40-year music career, has continued her message of equality and respect in her music. This performance is anticipated to be a very special one.

Mavis will be backed by her band that recently recorded the album Live: Hope At The Hideout with her. The album was nominated for Best Contemporary Blues Album at the upcoming GRAMMYs--the first GRAMMY nomination Mavis has received for a solo project (she had a few for The Staples Singers and compilations and guest turns.) The Chicago Sun Times says of her performance on the album "Anyone who was hearing this American treasure in concert for the first time learned precious lessons about where we have been and where we are today."