Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman

The 411 Travel Review: Baltimore, Maryland

Contributed By:Junifer Hall

As our country celebrates African-American History Month in February highlighting the achievements, contributions, and accomplishments of people of African descent living in our nation- a visit to Baltimore is quite educational and historic. Baltimore is named in honor of Cecil Calvert, 2ndLord Baron Baltimore, an Irish member of the House of Lords. Some of America’s most brutal and degrading slave markets were once located in Baltimore, prior to and during the American Civil War, due to the State of Maryland’s status as a “slave state.”

Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman, who would both escape slavery, and become strong anti-slavery abolitionists, were born on Maryland’s Eastern Shore in the 1800’s.

Today, Baltimore is a city with a complicated and rich history, composed of nine distinct and diverse neighborhoods that reflect its 60% majority African-American population. The main employers of the Baltimore metropolitan area are the world famous John Hopkins Hospital and John Hopkins University.

Visitors should begin their tour of Baltimore by paying homage to the oldest civil rights group in America - National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The organization’s headquarters is situated at 4805 Mount Hope Drive, where policy is formulated for more than one (100) hundred local branches and the publishing site of Crisis magazine founded by Dr. W.E.B. DuBois in the early 1900’s. Although public tours of the NAACP’s offices are not allowed - it is a great place to stop by for a few historic photographs.

The Frederick Douglass-Issac Myers Maritime Memorial Park in Baltimore’s Fell’s Point neighborhood is dedicated mainly to the life of Mr. Douglass, who moved to Baltimore City from Maryland’s Eastern Shore when he was an 8 year-old child.

The shipyard-turned heritage park features gallery exhibits in a museum honoring African-American maritime history, along with Douglass. Young Frederick went on to teach himself to read and write- subsequently authoring in 1845, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, an international best-seller, which is still available in print today. This book should be mandatory reading in all colleges and universities across the United States of America.

Baltimore’s Billie Holiday Plaza sits at the corner of West Lafayette and Pennsylvania Avenues. Ms. Holiday, long considered a “native of Baltimore”, has a tall outdoor bronze statute that stands in Billie’s honor with references to the horrors of lynching as sung about in her famous song, “Strange Fruit”, denouncing the practice of lynching in the American south.

The Eubie Blake National Jazz and Cultural Center at 8th and North Howard Street promotes the jazz legacy of African-American art and culture. One of America’s premier jazz musicians, Eubie Blake was born in Baltimore. The “must-see” exhibit at the Cultural Center is Eubie’s personal belongings, along with personal artifacts belonging to famed musicians Billie Holliday and Cab Calloway. The Eubie Blake National Jazz and Cultural Center is open Wednesday-Fridays, 1-6pm; Saturdays 11am-3pm; and closed on Sundays-Tuesdays. There is a small fee for admission.

The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African-American History and Culture named in honor of Reginald Lewis, a native of Baltimore, a successful corporate attorney, and philanthropist, whose company, TLC Beatrice was the first black-owned company to gross $1 billion in sales has a museum located on 830 E. Pratt Street. The museum features permanent and special exhibitions on the traditions, culture, and unique experiences of African-Americans in Maryland and Baltimore, including personal memorabilia of Attorney Lewis.

The Star-Spangled Banner Flag House focuses on the contributions of an enslaved African-American girl, Grace Wisher, aged 13 years-old, who helped her mistress sew the American flag. The museum is closed on Sunday and Monday with self-guided tours on Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Admission is $8.00 per person - children under age 6 enter for free.

Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American appointed to the United States Supreme Court was born in Baltimore in 1908. An outdoor statute at the United States Courthouse on Pratt Street in downtown Baltimore honors its native son and the great American barrister. There is also a marker at 1632 Division Street marking the site of the house where Associate Justice Marshall grew up.

The highly historic St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, the first church established for African-Americans in the nation is housed in Baltimore. Since slavery prohibited ‘people of color’ from receiving a formal education, many former slaves learned to read and write from the Catholic School that was started in the basement of the church, and taught by the Oblate Sisters, the first Black Catholic religious Orders of Nuns. The Church, now located at Caroline and Oliver Streets still holds services today. Mass is held at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday at 8am. Wednesday at 10am, in addition to Sunday at 8am and 11am.

The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway, a 125 mile scenic road originating in Maryland’s Eastern Shore helps visitors appreciate the dangers Tubman and all those who escaped slavery encountered on the “Path to Freedom”. In Baltimore, there are various sites scattered throughout the city, which were safe-havens on the Underground Railroad often visited by Tubman and slaves heading North to freedom.

How to Get There:
The drive to Baltimore from Gary is estimated at ten (10) hours. One of the fastest routes is Interstate 90 East (Indiana Toll Road) to Interstate 80 East to Interstate 76 East until reaching Interstate 70 East to Interstate 695 South onto Interstate 95 North proceeding directly into the Baltimore metropolitan area.

Chicago’s two airports - O’Hare International and Midway offer daily non-stop service to Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport via Southwest, United, and American Airlines, among other carriers.

Where to Stay and Eat:
Baltimore’s best hotels are located on the waterfront harbor such as the Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel, Pier 5, Days Inn Baltimore, Raddison Hotel Baltimore Downtown (Inner Harbor), and the Baltimore Marriot Waterfront.

Some of Baltimore’s tastiest restaurants featuring the best in soul food cuisine are Georgia Soul Food, Angi’s Soul Food, Soul Boat, and Kimmy’s Restaurant and Carry Out, where visitors can find the best catfish, fried chicken, sweet potatoes, collard greens, macaroni and cheese, and peach cobbler.

Story Posted:02/18/2017