Demonstration
Thursday, April 04, 2019: 7:45pm - 8:45pm - Constitution: Demonstrations 2
Tonika Berkley, The Peale Center for Baltimore History and Culture, USA
From 1878-1889, the Peale Center for Baltimore History and Architecture functioned as “Male and Female Colored School Number 1,” the site of one of the first grammar schools in Baltimore City’s Colored School system, and the first high school available to people of color. Through this microsite hosted within the Peale Center’s main website, we will be examining early 19th through 21st century experiences of African-American education in Baltimore City and the surrounding counties. ‘School1’ will serve as a resource for educators, parents, students, researchers and scholars alike and act as a ‘living document’ where the updated content and public engagement continues to build on the research that provides the foundation for the site.
The demonstration of the microsite will allow for navigation through several topics on African American education in Baltimore, such as a timeline of African-American education in Baltimore City Public Schools, African American education in 19th century Baltimore, Contemporary Issues in Baltimore City Public Schools, and The Colored School System archival and digital resources. The ‘Be Here: Stories’ app will allow visitors to record their own brief oral history segments or to listen to stories pertaining to historical and contemporary African American education in Baltimore.
Understanding the historic context from which Baltimore’s schools have been formed has never had greater importance for the Baltimore community. Up until now, the story of the ‘colored’ school system and education in Baltimore has never been comprehensively researched and presented in a way that invites public engagement. The research and online publication of groundbreaking scholarship into this formative part of Baltimore history will hopefully make a transformative contribution to changing the narrative about the educational system in Baltimore City.
Bibliography:
Archival research for the microsite conducted by Dr. Iris Barnes, Ms. Tonika Berkley, MAA, Dr. Mary Ellen Hayward, Mr. Dean Krimmel, Ms. Lisa Rose Lamson, and Dr. Brian Morrison.
Timeline from Dean Krimmel and Mary Ellen Hayward, Members of the Board of Directors, The Peale Center for Baltimore History and Architecture.
Timeline and notes compiled by Ginevra Shay, Jazmin Smith, and Abigail DeVille for The Contemporary’s 2016 exhibition, “Only When It’s Dark Enough Can You See The Stars,” held at the Peale Center in 2016.
Citations of articles by Bettye Collier Thomas in the Maryland Historical Magazine
Annual Reports of the Board of School Commisioners 1878-1887, notes by Jeff Korman, June 5, 2007.
MA thesis at Howard University on the History of Public Education in the city of Baltimore by Vernon Vavrina.
PhD thesis at Morgan State University entitled "Selected African-American Educational Efforts in Baltimore Maryland During the 19th Century" by Dr. Brian Morrison.
This microsite is a product of the MHAA Non-Capital Grant project, "The Colored School and Early African American Education in Baltimore," awarded to The Peale Center for Baltimore History and Architecture. This Project has been financed in part with State Funds from the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority, an instrumentality of the State of Maryland. However, the contents and opinions do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority.