Events

Past Events

View recordings of past lectures, seminars, tours and workshops, as well as helpful training videos on how to use various records in our collections in our free online Presentation Library.

Title: April Lunch and Learn - Changing Cultures and Landscapes: Transforming the Riversdale House Museum

Join Riversdale House Museum Director, Maya Davis as she shares the groundbreaking work to transform a traditional 19th century historic house museum into a community centered space and descendant inspired space focused on social justice. She will share the ways that the team has worked to reimagine the museum's interpretation, build relationships with a changing community, and incorporate the perspectives of Riversdale descendants.

Maya Davis is the Director of the Riversdale House Museum, a former 19th Century Plantation home that interprets the lives of the Stier and Calvert families, as well as the overwhelming majority of enslaved individuals held in bondage, and indentured and hired workers. Prior to her arrival at the museum, she was employed at the Maryland State Archives. In her role as Research Archivist, she consulted on statewide projects that documented, interpreted and preserved African American History. Some of her recent projects include the commission of a mosaic portrait of Adam Francis Plummer, participating in the Thurgood Marshall portrait team, the Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman Statue installation at the Maryland State House, the Annapolis Port Marker project, and the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Park and Visitor Center. She currently serves on the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture, the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and is a board member of the Prince George’s County Historical Society and the Maryland Center for History and Culture. Maya is a graduate of Howard and George Washington Universities where she obtained degrees in History and Museum Studies.

Title: May Lunch and Learn - True Crime Stories from the Stacks: "Seduced by the instigation of the devil"

While true crime has long fascinated humanity, finding physical records on historical cases can be a challenge. Crimes that once shook communities to their core are barely remembered, or become wisps of family lore of a great-grandfather who was found mysteriously murdered near the train tracks. How can you learn more about an old criminal case - referenced in a slip of paper, a brief article, or a single line in a book? To get an inside look at historical true crime research through archives, this talk will dive into four Maryland murder cases, spanning centuries, from 1777 to 1904.

Bio: Kasey Maes is an Archives Technician with the National Archives and Records Administration with several years of experience working in reference services. Interested in true crime, Kasey became curious about the different types of resources available for researching historical criminal cases in Maryland.

Title: June Lunch and Learn - African American Land Conservation and Heritage Preservation: Black Beaches & Recreation

Vince Leggett is the founder and President of Blacks of the Chesapeake Foundation which documents, promotes and educates on the significant contributions of African Americans to the bay’s maritime industries and culture. The Library of Congress designated the Blacks of the Chesapeake as a Local Legacy Project in 2000. The centerpiece of that submission was Leggett’s two publications, Blacks of the Chesapeake: An Integral Part of Maritime History (1998) and The Chesapeake Bay Through Ebony Eyes (1999). Leggett’s seminal research project, Chesapeake Underground: Charting a Course Toward Freedom (2000) examines how extensively the bay and its tributaries were utilized to help deliver Africans to freedom. The governor of Maryland appointed and commissioned Leggett as an honorary “Admiral of the Chesapeake.” Through this work, Leggett provides training in the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion. As an advocate for change through the legal system, Vince enlists his position as president and CEO of the Leggett Group (USA) consulting firm to advance environmental and social justice for African Americans. He also represents the interests of the African American community as a board member of the Chesapeake Legal Alliance. Additional leadership positions held include Chaplain for the City of Annapolis Fire Department, President of the Anne Arundel County Board of Education, Chair of the Wiley H. Bates Legacy Center, CEO of the Housing Commission of Anne Arundel County and CEO of the Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis.

Leggett is a highly respected lecturer and historical consultant on national and international features on the Underground Railroad. In 2022, Leggett was featured in national broadcasts produced by the PBS, Science Channel and Discovery+, plus locally on Maryland Public Television.

For the last 15 years, Leggett has worked tirelessly to conserve Elktonia Beach, a 5-acre waterfront parcel on the Chesapeake Bay and the last remnant of the original 180-acre property purchased by Fred Carr in 1902. Carr’s and Sparrow’s Beaches were privately-owned and operated by Fred Carr’s daughters, Elizabeth Carr Smith and Florence Carr Sparrow. “The Beaches” (1930s-1970s), as they were called, represented the heart of entertainment throughout the mid-Atlantic region and welcomed Blacks during a time of segregation. With the help of Chesapeake Conservancy, the City of Annapolis, The Conservation Fund and federal and state funding, in August of 2022, Elktonia Beach became a public park.Partners are striving for Elktonia/Carr’s Beach to become the future home for the Blacks of the Chesapeake Foundation Headquarters, Educational, Historical, Cultural & Environmental Center. This $7 million project was a multi-year collaboration for Blacks of the Chesapeake Foundation with state, local and federal partners and is a delivered promise on diversity, equity and inclusion in policymaking.

Title: August Lunch and Learn - When Harry Met Elsey: Madness, Power, and Justice in Federal-Era Baltimore

Title: September Lunch and Learn - Maryland at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair

Title: October Lunch and Learn - Maryland Photography