“Freedom House” Interpretation Revisited

gmcdaniel4444@gmail.com

6 years ago

From 1979 Research & Field Notes to 2019 Public-Access Digital Archives

The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture to expand its interpretation of the “Freedom House”

September 2018

That’s me in the image above while doing field work in Maryland in 1979. Almost forty years later, a house of 1874 that I documented at that time is now on exhibit as the “Freedom House” at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). While they have a good bit of my research, I still have more, and recently I gladly shared it with the NMAAHC as well as the Maryland Historical Trust, Montgomery County Public Libraries, and Montgomery County Historical Society. My suitcase of research materials, seen on table tops, has been in file drawers too long, and the NMAAHC will now digitize them for public use and will also video oral histories with me and others.

The 1874 Jones Hall Sims “Freedom House” from Maryland on exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

George W. McDaniel, Ph.D., is President of McDaniel Consulting, LLC, a strategy firm that helps organizations use history to build bridges within itself and to its broader constituents. The company’s tag line, “Building Bridges through History,” is grounded in McDaniel’s personal beliefs and his experience in site management, preservation, education, board development, fundraising, and community outreach. Rather than using history to divide us, he strives to help organizations use history, especially local history, to enhance cross-cultural understanding and to support local museums, preservation, and education. Dr. McDaniel recently led volunteer efforts with Emanuel AME Church and historical organizations in Charleston to use historic preservation to enhance racial reconciliation and healing. McDaniel is also the Executive Director Emeritus of Drayton Hall, a historic site in Charleston, SC, owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

A frequent writer, speaker, and facilitator about such issues, he can be reached at gmcdaniel4444@gmail.com or through his website at www.mcdanielconsulting.net.

Header Image: Taping oral histories in 1979. Clarksburg community historian Ethel Foreman (left) explains the history of her community and family to research assistant Karen Sewell (center) and to historic sites surveyor George W. McDaniel.

All images courtesy of the author unless otherwise noted.