Harbor of Freedom: Commerce and Black History in Baltimore

Explore Baltimore’s rich maritime heritage and trace the powerful connections between Black history, trade, and commerce along the city’s historic waterfront. Our journey begins with a self-guided tour at the Frederick Douglass–Isaac Myers Maritime Park and Museum, a cornerstone of African American history and industry, where you’ll discover how a young Frederick Douglass honed his reading and writing skills while working as a ship caulker—skills that would later empower him to become one of America’s most influential abolitionists. The museum also honors Isaac Myers, a pioneering Black businessman and labor leader who, alongside other free Black caulkers, founded one of the nation’s first African American–owned shipyards. Lunch will be on your own at one of several restaurants located nearby. The tour then continues through the cobblestone streets of Fells Point, a bustling 19th-century port once alive with shipbuilders, sailors, and merchants. As you walk, you’ll discover how Baltimore became one of the country’s busiest ports, and how this waterfront became a crossroads of freedom, labor, and commerce. This tour involves walking several blocks at a time on uneven pavement and cobblestone streets and standing throughout the day.