Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Museum
Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Museum & Maritime Park; (c) Soul Of America
DESCRIPTION: Medium-tier historical & cultural museum that includes a maritime park. Founded in 2006 and situated in a prime spot connecting the Inner Harbor East to Fells Point, this 5,000-square feet black heritage site, museum and maritime park merges a modern structure of gallery space with the historic Sugar House. The complex is divided into permanent and temporary galleries and interactive learning centers. The Sugar House building was once owned by Isaac Myers, a free African-American who became a founder of the Chesapeake Marine Railway and Dry Dock Company. As CEO, he employed Frederick Douglass and helmed the largest black-owned business in the 1800s. So they twisted laws to separate Isaac Myers and his co-owners from the property. Unfortunately, the white establishment at that time was jealous of the company’s success. A section of the museum is also devoted to the saga of Frederick Douglass’ life as an enslaved young man sent from Maryland’s eastern shore, then worked on or around this dock in Baltimore over 1836-38, many years before Isaac Myers’ company. Within the historic Sugar House, oldest standing industrial building on the Inner Harbor, lies the Alex Brown Maritime Education Center. A unique feature of the museum is its education programs that teach ship building & repair skills to at-risk youths. Docent led tours are included in the admission.
ADMISSION: $15 and less
DAYS & HOURS: Tue-Sun 10a-5p
ADDRESS: 1417 Thames Street, Baltimore, MD
PARKING: Paid parking on Caroline Street in the PMI garage
PHONE: 410-685-0295
WEBSITE: https://livingclassrooms.org/programs/fdimmp/
