From performances and lectures to cultural events and community discussions, Baltimore honors the history, heritage and heart of the African American experience.
Baltimore is a hub of African American culture and heritage, with a wealth of organizations honoring our unique cultural legacy year-round, but with particular emphasis on events in January surrounding Martin Luther King Jr. Day and throughout February, Black History Month. Below is more information about special events.
This Years Black History Month Events
Free Admission February
Homewood Museum
All Feb., Tue-Sun, 11 - 4 p.m.
In honor of Black History Month, Homewood Museum is launching a new interpretive tour and offering FREE admission for the entire month of February. The revamped tour, titled "Families at Homewood," draws on new scholarship to tell the stories of Charles and Harriet Carroll, for whom Homewood was constructed in 1801, and two enslaved families, the Rosses and the Conners, who labored for the Carrolls in first quarter of the 19th century, and whose stories have never before been told in such detail.
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The National Great Blacks in Wax Museum
Feb. 1 - 28
Celebrate Black History Month throughout the entire month of February at The National Great Blacks in Wax Museum. The museum hosts an assortment of events including roundtables, documentaries, panel discussions and more.
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To Catch a Thief: Constellation Fights the Slave Trade
USS Constellation
Feb. 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29, 1 p.m.
Join the USS CONSTELLATION educators as they retell the narrative of the USS CONSTELLATION's role in fighting against the international slave trade and her capture of the slave ship CORA.
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Balthazar: Behind a New Walters Acquisition
The Walters Art Museum
Feb. 6, 6:30 - 7:15 p.m.
In this talk celebrating Black History Month, Joaneath Spicer, James A. Murnaghan Curator for Renaissance and Baroque Art, will propose possible identifications for the African man portrayed in one of the museum’s newest acquisitions, Magus Balthazar (ca. 1690). Discover what clues his facial expressions, body language, and clothing provide.
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Francis Scott Key Lecture Series - George Washington and the Enslaved Community at Mount Vernon
Maryland Historical Society
Feb. 6, 6:30 p.m.
he enslaved community at George Washington’s Mount Vernon developed over many years, starting with 10 people when Washington was 11 years old, and growing to over 300 at the end of his life. This lecture, presented by Mary Thompson, a Research Historian with The Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington, explores the large number of individuals who were forced into slavery through inheritance, marriage, acquisition, estate sales’ purchase, rented from neighbors, born at Mount Vernon and purchased from slave ships.
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African Fabric Workshop
Baltimore Museum of Industry
Feb. 8, 10 a.m.
Celebrate Black History Month with an intergenerational workshop on the meaning behind African printed fabrics led by Baltimore-based designer Akos “Sunday” Regal
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Film Screening: Wax Print
Reginald F. Lewis Museum
Feb. 9, 2 - 5 p.m.
In many African homes, fabrics lay unassuming and taken for granted. Surprised to learn that ‘traditional’ African wax-printed fabrics were a colonial invention made in the UK and Holland, filmmaker & fashion designer, Aiwan Obinyan, sets out on a journey across four continents to trace the 200 year history of this iconic textile that has come to visually represent Africa and Africans. This event will also include a textile pop-up with African textiles on view by local artisans.
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Kuumba Showcase
Creative Alliance
Feb. 15, 12 - 3 p.m.
Kuumba means Creativity! Experience the beauty and creativity of black cultures through enriching performances by local students and Baltimore-based artists, in honor of Black History Month. This year’s theme is Black Dance Through Time! Explore the evolution of Black American dance from the early 20th century to the present day! Enjoy live music and dance performances, family activities, Baltimore-based vendors, and more!
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The History of the NAACP The Baltimore Connection
Reginald F. Lewis Museum
Feb. 16, 2 - 4 p.m.
Enjoy a living history performance, film and talk about the NAACP and its leaders from the Jim Crow and Civil Rights era. See a living history performance of activist Juanita Jackson Mitchell, hear a lecture on the Baltimore branch by Professor Prudence Cumberbatch and conclude with a film screening of Mr. Civil Rights: Thurgood Marshall & The NAACP (57 min). NAACP artifacts and panels covering 97 years of Maryland history will be on view.
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Smithsonian Channel Premiere: Black in Space
Reginald F. Lewis Museum
Feb. 19, 6 - 9 p.m.
Be the first to see this new documentary before it airs on the Smithsonian Channel. Reginal F. Lewis Museum will premiere screening of Black in Space: Breaking the Color Barrier. This documentary charts the United States’ efforts to get the first African American astronaut into space at the height of the Cold War and Civil Rights Movement. Panel discussion to follow.
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Museum Nights: RBG (Red, Black & Green)
Reginald F. Lewis Museum
Feb. 20, 6 - 9 p.m.
Celebrate Black History Month at the Lewis with the return of Museum Nights. Enjoy the sounds of DJ Tanz, experiment with printmaking inspired by the exhibition Elizabeth Catlett: Artist as Activist and grab your team and participate in Black history and culture trivia for prizes.
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All Black Everything: A Poetry Workshop
American Visionary Art Museum
Feb. 22, 1pm-3pm
Nationally renowned and award winning slam poet Meccamorphosis will teach participants how to transform random text from books, magazines and newspapers into black out / erasure poetry. This technique fuses mark making and language to maximize creativity. All materials provided.
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