Browse Exhibits (3 total)

This exhibit presents the experiences of Black Maryland families during the Civil War. As the documents in this exhibit show, Black families faced a number of obstacles designed by elected officials at every level of government to constrain Black freedom. Whether enslaved or free, for example, Black children were subject to forced separation from their families, both before, during, and after emancipation. The result was a state that treated Black children as resources to benefit white communities.

While we tend to think of the story of emancipation as a vindication of the democratic ideals enshrined in America's founding documents, the accounts in this collection offer a dramatically different perspective. In the following documents, free and formerly enslaved Black Marylanders convey, in their own words, a massive grassroots struggle against former enslavers, local officials, military policies, and even President Lincoln to establish Black dignity and autonomy during the turmoil of the war and its immediate aftermath. 

The destruction of slavery in Maryland was advanced by the demands and aspirations of enslaved people themselves. Whether it was Matilda Johnson's struggle to gain the return of children and household goods from her former enslaver or the efforts of Reason Brown, drummer boy for Company D of the 19th Maryland U.S. Colored Volunteers, to obtain a furlough to visit his family, these endeavors were bound up in Black communities. 

Although the topics and themes of Black Maryland in the Civil War are interrelated, this exhibit highlights the experiences of Black Marylanders and their efforts to overturn the local, state, and federal laws and customs constraining Black families. While it is designed to highlight several items and themes in greater detail, you can view the full collection related to Black families here, or by scrolling to the end of the exhibit.

This exhibit documents Black grassroots organizing in Civil War Maryland. This process pushes how we might think about politics beyond the voting, policing, legislative, and judicial work we often associate with the term. Black Marylanders understood the ways these systems were rigged against them, forming social and religious networks of their own to support Black communities and challenge state violence and exploitation.

While we tend to think of the story of emancipation as a vindication of the democratic ideals enshrined in America's founding documents, the accounts in this collection offer a dramatically different perspective. In the following documents, free and formerly enslaved Black Marylanders convey, in their own words, a massive grassroots struggle against former enslavers, local officials, military policies, and even President Lincoln to establish Black dignity and autonomy during the turmoil of the war and its immediate aftermath. 

The destruction of slavery in Maryland was advanced by the demands and aspirations of enslaved people themselves. Whether it was Matilda Johnson's struggle to gain the return of children and household goods from her former enslaver or the efforts of Reason Brown, drummer boy for Company D of the 19th Maryland U.S. Colored Volunteers, to obtain a furlough to visit his family, these endeavors were bound up in Black communities. 

Although the topics and themes of Black Maryland in the Civil War are interrelated, this exhibit highlights the community level organizing of Black Marylanders against the constraints imposed on them by local, state, and federal laws and policies. While it is designed to highlight several items and themes in greater detail, you can view the full collection related to Black politics here, or by scrolling to the end of the exhibit.