The smell of wood still hangs in the air as the Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park prepares for its grand opening today as Baltimore?s first black maritime history museum in the restored Sugar House in Fells Point.
“In order to move forward, we have to look back and acknowledge the past,” said Dianne Swann-Wright, director and curator of the museum.
“It?s a story that needs to be told, and I?m interested to see Baltimore tell it through this program. It?s a tremendous addition to the harbor,” said Frederick Douglass IV.
The $14 million museum is the Living Classrooms Foundation?s newest campus, offering interactive education, history appreciation and employment trainingto the public.
The museum honors Frederick Douglass and Isaac Myers, founders of the nation?s first black-owned marine railway and shipyard.
In the effort to involve Baltimore?s youth, the museum enlisted the Fresh Start Program, which helps at-risk youths get back on track.
Fresh Start Director Stephanie Region said the young men helped build shutters and pedestals for the museum.
“This helps them contribute to something that?s going to last a lot longer than any of us,” Region said. “They get to be a part of history while learning about it.”
According to James Piper Bond, president and CEO of the Foundation, the facility includes a marine railway, a 170-year-old canoe, a mural made by middle-schoolers from seven Baltimore City and County schools and quilts made by the African American Quilters Group of Baltimore.
The top floor of the building is dedicated to portraits of the marine railway founders by Baltimore artists.
The prominent piece of artwork is a bronze replica of Frederick Douglass, sculpted in fragmented pieces by Marc Andre Robinson.
“I think of historical figures like puzzle pieces,” Robinson said. “We can?t always put all the pieces together and know all their stories.”
Robinson worked with students from Crossroads Middle School to make their own bronze sculptures for the opening.
Bond said visitors can participate in workshops on caulking a ship?s seams and shipbuilding.
Educational programs let students spend the night on a ship, explore buoyancy and practice boat construction.
Opening Ceremony
» 11 a.m. today
» Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park
» 1417 Thames St., Baltimore
