Our Work

“Let America cease to exult—she has yet obtained but partial freedom.”
— Vox Africanorum, 1783

Our Projects

Finding Freedom Project
Maryland Penitentiary Project
Judge Lynch's Court

Since 2001, the Legacy of Slavery in Maryland Program at the Maryland State Archives has sought to preserve and promote the historic lived experiences of Black Marylanders from colonization to the present.

The Maryland State Archives itself paved the way for many American archives to utilize computers and other technology in their work. That technological openness directly led to LOSIM conducting innovative and publicly accessible research on Black Maryland early in the 21st century.

Crucial grant funding enabled LOSIM to build one of the first online databases in the nation that cataloged fugitive slave advertisements (The Finding Freedom Database). From there, a generation of staff members have combed through records related to Black history at the Maryland State Archives to make archival material more accessible and to uplift Black stories of flight, freedom, and perseverance.

Today, the Legacy of Slavery in Maryland Program is honored to be a leader in the field of Black public history. We continue to find new ways to grow as a program so that the full and detailed picture of Maryland’s Black history can be accessible to all.