TAKE A WALK IN A PARK
WITH SOCIAL DISTANCING IN PLACE, OUTDOOR SPACES ARE CALLING. JUST BE SAFE WHEN YOU WALK( OR RUN), AND BUTTON UP.
BLACK HISTORY
Druid Hill Park
This 745-acre space is one of the first large public parks in America and Baltimore’ s first large municipal park. On its grounds, you’ ll find the Druid Hill reservoir, dating back to 1863, a walking trail and more. If you’ re wondering why it’ s on our Black history list, it also was the site of a once-popular segregated pool for Black people, opened in 1921. By 1950, there were reportedly six public pools for white people and just the one pool for the city’ s 250,000 Black residents. The segregated pool was crowded and sometimes had to close and, after a Black boy drowned swimming in a river, the NAACP successfully sued to desegregate the pools. Now the pool formerly designated for Black swimmers has been filled in with dirt as part of a memorial to recognize this historic act of progress against segregation.
Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park
A rich, interactive experience for families and history lovers of all ages, this national heritage site highlights the story of Frederick Douglass and his life as a young man in the shipyards in Baltimore and on the Eastern Shore. The onsite museum also celebrates the legacy of Isaac Myers, and the founding of the Chesapeake Marine Railway and Dry Dock Company, America’ s first African Americanowned shipyard. Though the museum was closed to the public at press time, the park itself still is worth a visit and features a striking view of the harbor as well as one of the city’ s oldest existing waterfront industrial buildings.
Discover more about online learning
TIP opportunities on the website of Living Classrooms, an organization that has its campus at the park and seeks to support the community.
Druid Hill Park
Wyman Park Dell
This 16-acre public park is located south of Johns Hopkins University and the Baltimore Museum of Art. There, you’ ll find steep enclosing slopes and a large, sweeping lower lawn. It’ s a lovely place to take a wintry walk or run. While you’ re there, look for the signage that honors abolitionist and Maryland native Harriet Tubman. Why the tribute? The park previously held a Confederate monument, but the statue was removed in August 2017. Later that year, the City Council introduced a bill that proposed to rename and dedicate a portion of Wyman Park Dell as the“ Harriet Tubman Grove at Wyman Park Dell.”
32 BALTIMORE. ORG