The Maryland Lynching Memorial Project (MLMP) achieved a significant milestone with the opening of Lynching in Maryland in October 2024. The exhibit explores the history and consequences of racial terror in the state and is a collaboration between MLMP and the Lewis Museum. The opening of the installation is the culmination of a campaign initiated by MLMP in 2020 to establish a partnership with the Lewis to create both a permanent exhibit on the history of lynching in Maryland and build a memorial for all known and unknown lynching victims in the state.

In 2022, the Lewis Museum was able to secure Federal funding for the project through the auspices of Maryland’s US Senator Chris Van Hollen. Early in 2023, Quatrefoil Associates of Columbia, MD was selected to design and build the exhibit. Quatrefoil worked closely with the Lewis Museum and MLMP over 1-1/2 years to create a meaningful and powerful display.

One of the features of the exhibit is an array of jars filled with soil collected from lynching sites all over Maryland by the many county coalitions affiliated with MLMP. Touching the nameplate in front of any jar activates the projection of a brief biography of that victim over an atmospheric and evocative video that plays in the background.

A dedicated area displays a rotating selection of films and videos dealing with the subject of racial terror in Maryland.

Lynching in Maryland provides insight into the history and consequences of racial terror in the state, and also demonstrates how the legacy of lynching continues to be manifest in our lives. It invites visitors to find ways to help “bend the arc of the moral universe” toward justice.

WBAL-TV coverage

Entry to Lynching in Maryland is included with admission to the Lewis Museum

For museum hours and information: Lewis Museum

Visitors should be advised that the content may be very disturbing to some.