The flagship campus of the University of Maryland at College Park is offering a campus tour guide online that features 17 locations on campus that are significant to the history of African Americans at the university.
In telling the history of the African American experience on campus, the tour begins with the university’s founding when Maryland was a slave-holding state. It charts the path of the legal battle to desegregate the campus led by Thurgood Marshall. The tour includes landmarks that celebrate the contributions of African-Americans to the campus and community.
University of Maryland President Wallace D. Loh said that “all of us need to learn this important history. These stories of African-American struggles and contributions span the history of our campus and our nation. We need to make them part of our shared memory.”
The tour was developed by Kim Nickerson, assistant dean, equity administrator and diversity officer in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, who took a critical look at the university’s history to identify and curate key moments that were shaped by African-Americans. The tour draws on university archives, reports by campus colleagues and other sources.
“Like our country, the University of Maryland is continuously evolving to live up to our core values and ideals. The evolution includes telling a more complete history of our campus by acknowledging the painful past, but also celebrating the triumphs,” Dr. Nickerson said. “We hope this work serves as a source of affirmation and inspiration and that it invites other diverse voices to share their stories.”
The Black History Tour can be accessed here.
