The Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture

Celebrates its 50th Anniversary – We Rise!

This year marks the yearlong 50th Anniversary of the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture and this year’s theme is “We Rise, Preserving Maryland’s African American Heritage”. Since its founding in 1969 by Senator Verda Freeman Welcome (the nation’s first African American female State Senator) and Dr. Benjamin Arthur Quarles (Morgan State University Professor of History and renowned African American Historian), the Commission has given rise to a 21 seat statewide commission appointed by the Governor. Our key resources include operating the State’s official museum on African American History and Culture (Banneker Douglass Museum) and the States $1-million African American Heritage Preservation Grant Program. Join us as we celebrate our 50th Anniversary!

To visit the MCAAHC online, click here.

 

Banneker-Douglass Museum’s Mission and Vision

As the State of Maryland’s official museum of African American heritage, the Banneker-Douglass Museum serves to document, to interpret, and to promote African American history and culture (particularly in Maryland) through exhibitions, programs, and projects in order to improve the understanding and appreciation of America’s rich cultural diversity for all.

The Banneker-Douglass Museum is a component of the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture, which is a unit of the Governor’s Office of Community Initiatives — an executive-department agency, whose mandate to coordinate outreach efforts to communities, organizations, and local governments across Maryland serves as a unifying principle for all its departments.