Beyond the Scoreboard: The Baltimore Black Sox and the Negro Leagues’ Civil Rights Legacy
2026-02-21 12:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York)
Saturday, February 21, 2026 | 12pm – 3 pm | SOLD OUT

Join the Reginald F. Lewis Museum and community partners for a panel discussion celebrating the legacy of the Baltimore Black Sox, one of Baltimore’s historic Negro League baseball teams, and their impact on the Civil Rights Movement. Explore how these athletes navigated a segregated society, where “separate but not equal” defined life both on and off the field, and learn about their lasting influence on their communities and the fight for equality. After the discussion, visitors can participate in preservation workshops on family genealogy and celebrate community traditions, including baseball and family celebrations.
Featured Speakers:
Dr. Kaye Wise Whitehead, President, Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH); Founding Executive Director, The Karson Institute for Race, Peace, & Social Justice
Jana Brooks, great grandniece of Black Sox player Leon Day
Dr. Milbert Brown, Jr., artist, photojournalist, and author
Sean Gibson, the Executive Director of the Josh Gibson Foundation; Great-grandson of Negro League player Josh Gibson
Kelly Elaine Navies, Museum Specialist, Oral History Initiative, National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC)
Damion Thomas, Supervisory Museum Curator, National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC)
Partnership | This program is presented in partnership with Parks & People and the South Baltimore Gateway Partnership as part of the Baltimore Black Sox Memorial project. It also aligns with the ASALH (Association for the Study of African American Life and History) Black History 2026 theme: A Century of Black History Commemorations.
Parks & People, in partnership with the South Baltimore Gateway Partnership, is leading the creation of the Baltimore Black Sox Memorial in Westport. Founded in 1913, the Baltimore Black Sox began playing in Westport in 1917 as part of the Negro Leagues. The Memorial will celebrate the team’s legacy and contributions to Baltimore’s African American history and baseball culture.
This project is part of Reimagine Middle Branch, a community-driven initiative led by the City of Baltimore, South Baltimore Gateway Partnership, and Parks & People, working alongside a team of expert consultants, stakeholders, and Baltimoreans. This initiative celebrates African American culture through equitable development and implementation of the Reimagine Middle Branch Plan.
For more information, please visit, ReimagineMB.com .

Business 101: How to Thrive as a Creative Entertainer
2026-02-28 13:00
Saturday, February 28 | 1 pm | Museum Admission
Learn how to thrive as an artist in the entertainment industry with artist Wordsmith. Aspiring artists and entrepreneurs will learn how Wordsmith earns a living in music, acting, composing and songwriting while providing tips to those desiring to make it in this industry. Musical selections from Wordsmith will be performed following the workshop session.
In conjunction with TITAN: The Legacy of Reginald F. Lewis.
Register Here

A Soldier's Life: A Black Woman's Rise from Army Brat to Six Triple Eight Champion
2026-03-07 13:00 - 15:00
A Soldier’s Life: A Black Woman’s Rise from Army Brat to Six Triple Eight Champion

Saturday, March 7th | 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM | Museum Admission

Join retired Army Colonel Edna W. Cummings to converse on her extraordinary personal journey in the US military and her triumphant effort to honor her predecessors with the Congressional Gold Medal in her new book, A Soldier’s Life: A Black Woman’s Rise from Army Brat to Six Triple Eight Champion. This memoir chronicles Cummings’s unlikely but successful path to leadership roles in the army and afterward, tells the story of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, known as the Six Triple Eight—a trailblazing African American World War II Women’s Army Corps unit now the subject of a Netflix film and a Broadway-bound musical—and the grassroots campaign Cummings led to honor them. A book signing will take place after the talk.

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Women’s History Program: “The Artistry and Activism of Frances Harper”
2026-03-14 14:00 - 15:00
Women’s History Program: “The Artistry and Activism of Frances Harper”
Saturday, March 14th | 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM | Museum Admission
Join the Reginald F. Lewis Museum celebrating the life and legacy of activist Frances Ellen Watkins Harper through dance and poetry during Women’s History Month. “The Artistry and Activism of Frances Harper,” depicts Harper’s rise from being orphaned in Baltimore to becoming the most prolific Black novelist and most beloved Black poet of the nineteenth century after becoming the first Black woman to join the American Anti-Slavery speaking circuit. The 5 suite production includes original music, choreography and poetry performed by Sharing Our Legacy Dance Theatre (SOL) and directed by Professor Emerita, Lynnette Young Overby from the University of Delaware. Frances Watkins Harper Bicentennial birthday was recently commemorated in 2025.
Register Here

Invisible Warriors: African American Women in World War II
2026-03-28 14:00 - 16:00
Invisible Warriors: African American Women in World War II
Saturday, March 28th | 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Join the Reginald F. Lewis Museum in a film screening and discussion of Invisible Warriors: African American Women in World War II. Invisible Warriors gives voice to the hidden heroines who helped reshape both a nation at war and the course of American heritage. Told by the women who courageously fought both racism and sexism on America’s home front, this is the untold story of 600,000 Black “Rosie the Riveters.” These trailblazing women entered factories, government offices, and shipyards, shattering barriers and laying the groundwork for future generations of African American women.
This film screening will include a post discussion with filmmaker Gregory Cooke (virtually) and local Rosie Riveter Susie King (in person).
This program is in conjunction with Women’s History Month and National Black Women’s Labor Day (April 5).
Register Here
Film Trailer

Children’s Book Festival 2026
2026-04-11 11:00 - 15:00
Children’s Book Festival | Presented by Baltimore Gas and Electric (an Exelon company)
Saturday, April 11th | 11am – 3 pm | Museum Admission | FREE for Youth & Children (17 and under)
This spring join the Reginald F. Lewis Museum for the return of our family friendly Children’s Book Festival. Children and families can enjoy a fun-filled day exploring kids’ literature about African Americans while meeting some of your favorite children’s authors and illustrators in our Book Village. Enjoy a host of activities to include author readings, illustration workshops, craft activities, dance parties and more. Museum visitors can receive a free copy of A Ride to Remember by Amy Nathan and Sharon Langley while supplies last.
The African American Children’s Book Festival strives to connect families to high quality books about and for African American children. We aim to foster a love of reading for families by connecting them with renown and up and coming creators of children’s books.
Participating Authors, Illustrators, Presenters and Community Partners

Celebrity Guest Reader: Civil Rights icon, Joan Trumpauer Mulholland
Kwame Alexander
Marilyn Annette Barber
Carole Boston Weatherford
Jeffery Boston Weatherford
Julia K. Briggs Moseley
Sanaa Chege
Marc Clarke
Bryan Collier
Go-Daddy Productions, Ltd. – Wendell Shannon
Jordan P Jackson
Jordyn’s Journeys
Kujichagulia Press
Allison Lall
Dr. David C. Miller
Dr. Margaret Musgrove
Amy Nathan
Ashley Palmer
Enoch Pratt free Library Book Mobile
James E. Ransome
Culture Queen
Taunya T.D. Said
Markette “Sugar” Sheppard
Dr. LaMarr Darnell Shields
Shadra Strickland
Roland P. Taylor
Shenell Tolson, DrPH
Aisha Toombs
Mariah Torries
Renee Watson
Wellthy Entertainment
Katrina Denise
Dr. Mercedes Osakwe
Lor Xay Xay

Presented by:

Food Sponsored by:

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Maryland at 250: The Values That Shape Us (FREEDOM) presents “Freedom Is Not A Moment, It Is A Movement”
2026-04-16 18:00 - 19:30
Maryland at 250: The Values That Shape Us (FREEDOM) presents “Freedom Is Not A Moment, It Is A Movement
Thursday, April 16th | 6:00 PM-7:30 PM | FREE
As Maryland commemorates its 250th anniversary, the semiquincentennial of the nation’s founding, this moment calls for more than reflection. It calls for reckoning. In partnership with the Maryland 400 Commission and the Maryland Center for History and Culture, the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture invites you to the opening program in a bold new lecture series examining the values that have defined and challenged the state across two and a half centuries.
Acclaimed historian Dr. Hasan Kwame Jeffries will deliver a powerful keynote exploring how Black Marylanders have continuously shaped the meaning of freedom from 1776 to the present. From the self emancipation efforts of Frederick Douglass and the daring leadership of Harriet Tubman, to the intellectual activism of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper and the ongoing work of community organizers, this lecture traces a long tradition of resistance, strategy, and collective action that continues to define Maryland today.
This program serves as a signature component of the Lewis Museum’s upcoming exhibition, The Lines We Cross: 250 Years of Maryland Forging America, which examines how individuals and communities throughout Maryland’s history have confronted the boundaries of race, citizenship, power, and belonging. Together, the exhibition and lecture series challenge us to consider: What lines have Marylanders crossed in pursuit of freedom and what lines remain before us?
At 250 years, Maryland’s story is not complete. It is still being written by those willing to question, to act, and to carry forward the work of freedom. Join us for an evening of history, insight, and purpose and take part in shaping what comes next.
Register Here
