
A great way to observe Black History Month is to discover, engage, and learn something new about African Americans in history, particularly if those African Americans are or were, at one time, a part of your community. The two resources featured below can allow you to do just that!
The first resource featured here is The Southern Maryland Equity in History Coalition (SMEHC). SMEHC’s mission is to “connect and empower community-based organizations and educational and public institutions throughout Southern Maryland to elevate access to the collective and multi-perspective history of the region.”
In order to meet this mission, SMEHC partners with a number of different organizations: Libraries, Schools, Churches, and Community Institutions, to name a few. The site offers a variety of individual resources, timelines, places to explore, and notable people from Southern Maryland who are members of the BIPOC community. In addition to the information presented on the site, there are additional resources provided for further exploration beyond what the site provides. Check out the Southern Maryland Equity in History Colation’s website by clicking the link or go to https://www.equityinhistory.org.
The second resource featured here is Digital Maryland. “Digital Maryland is a collaborative, statewide digital preservation program of the Enoch Pratt Free Library/Maryland State Library Resource Center.” The site contains a wealth of historical and cultural documents, images, audio, and videos that pertain to Maryland history in general. A more tailored search of the site can yield many resources specifically related to African American history all around the state of Maryland. According to the site, Digital Maryland “partners with institutions throughout the state to present unique and important primary source materials that document aspects of Maryland history from its inception to the present.”
Digital Maryland is an ongoing project, so the number of resources continues to grow. If you have resources you think they would be interested in showcasing; you can reach out to them through the site. The Digital Maryland website can be found at https://www.digitalmaryland.org