African American Tour of Annapolis, MD

<p class="font_8">On Saturday, February 12, 2022, over 50 mentees, mentors, and parents participated in an African American Tour of Annapolis, MD.&nbsp; Our LegacyTours provided the tour, and our excellent tour guide was Mrs. Janice Hayes-Williams, an expert in African American families and culture<br>
around Annapolis and Anne Arundel County. Note: Mrs. Hayes-Williams was recently awarded the 2021 Preservation Award. (<a href="https://historicannapolis.wixsite.com/hablog/post/2021-preservation-award-janice-hayes-williams" target="_blank">https://historicannapolis.wixsite.com/hablog/post/2021-preservation-award-janice-hayes-williams</a>)<br>
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The day started at 9:00 a.m., with breakfast provided by the Alpha Academy, followed by everyone meeting at the downtown dock. The participants included Alpha Academy participants, their mentors and family members.<br>
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The tour began at 10:00 a.m. at the Alex Haley Memorial.&nbsp; According to the research conducted by Alex Haley (the author of the book, “Roots”) Kunta Kinte was an African from the Gambian town of Jufferee. The family history shows he was sold into slavery. Kunta Kinte was one of 98 survivors on the slave ship that arrived in Annapolis, Maryland on<br>
September 29, 1767. He was seventeen years old. Here, the students were told about the early history of Annapolis and given a brief overview of what to expect from the tour.<br>
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In 1992, the Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Foundation, under the leadership of President and Founder, Leonard A. Blackshear, started the process of building the now completed Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial, which includes the restored 1981 replacement plaque commemorating Kinte’s arrival.<br>
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After the introduction, the tour continued to the Museum of Historic Annapolis.&nbsp; We were greeted by Ms. Mary-Angela Hardwick who told us that we were the largest crowd since their reopening last November with their newest exhibit. Participants had the opportunity to view artifacts and to watch a short aerial tour of Annapolis.<br>
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On our way to the Maynard-Bugress House, we stopped off at the Annapolis City Hall.&nbsp; Here, the students learned that this Hall provides municipal services for residents of Annapolis. The building houses government offices, including the Annapolis legislative body, and provides public records, government services, and information about Annapolis services.<br>
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After that, we walked to the Maynard-Bugress House, home of two successive African-American families from 1847 to 1990. The Maynard-Burgess House is a tribute to the aspirations of the free black population of Annapolis in the 1800s.&nbsp; For 143 years, the house was continuously owned, occupied, and improved by two families of free African Americans: the Maynard family from 1847 to 1914 and the<br>
Burgess family from 1914 to 1990. They represented an ability to<br>
maintain autonomy and identity in the face of oppression.<br>
The next stop was to South St. The significance of this neighborhood was that it used to be all black in the early 20th Century. Wiley H. Bates (the tour guide’s great uncle), used to live at the corner of South St.</p>
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Next stop, the Banneker-Douglass Museum. The Banneker-Douglass Museum (BMD), named for Benjamin Banneker and Frederick Douglass, was dedicated on February 24, 1984. The original museum was housed within the former Mount Moriah African Methodist Episcopal Church in the heart of historic Annapolis.&nbsp; Thanks to a community-led effort to transform the former Mt. Moriah AME Church building into a museum, the<br>
BDM opened on February 24, 1984. Considering this legacy, the BDM focuses on a community-based approach to building collections and exhibition and in providing tours, public programs, and other services.</p>
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Next stop, the Maryland State House.&nbsp; The beautiful Maryland<br>
Statehouse is 225 years old. It is the oldest state capitol in<br>
continuous legislative use and is the only state house ever to have served as the nation’s capital. The Continental Congress met in the Old Senate Chamber from November 26, 1783 to August 13, 1784. During that time, George Washington came before Congress to resign hiscommission as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army and the<br>
Treaty of Paris was ratified, marking the official end of the<br>
Revolutionary War.<br>
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The final stop, the Thurgood Marshall Statue. Thurgood Marshall was one of this century's foremost leaders in the struggle for equal rights under the law. A native of Baltimore, Marshall graduated from Frederick Douglass High School in Baltimore and Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. He earned his law degree from Howard University in Washington, D.C. After earning his law degree, Marshall returned to Baltimore and began his long association with the NAACP. In 1967,<br>
Marshall became the first African American to be appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.<br>
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Following Marshall's death in 1993, the state of Maryland decided to honor the great civil rights leader and jurist with a memorial at the State House in Annapolis. This is where we took a final group photo.</p>
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This was a great tour and we all were thoroughly enlightened by thisexperience.&nbsp;</p>
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<p class="font_8">Photos can be found here:</p>
<p class="font_8"><a href="https://www.annapolisalphas.com/annapolistour2022"><u>View Photos Here:</u></a></p>