Prime Time Living 6.18.25 - Flipbook - Page 16
16 A Special Advertising Section of Baltimore Sun Media Group | Wednesday, June 18, 2025
TRAVEL
Three museums
in a day
Explore history right
here in Baltimore
By Margit B. Weisgal, Contributing Writer
“W
e are more alike than different.” Each of the interviewees for this
article said this. It was almost eerie that they understood the benefits each venue provided to visitors.
Terri Freeman of the Lewis Museum,
Andria Washington Hanner of the Jewish
Museum, and Chris Sniezek of the StarSpangled Banner Flag House appreciate
what their fellow museum advocates
believe and value.
As for me, I created this “Day Trip”
to introduce Marylanders, Baltimoreans
and visitors who come to our city and
state because each is so interesting.
Have I visited? Yes. And each one is
memorable.
The people each museum celebrates
have had their individual struggles;
indeed, they changed the places in
which they lived and made them better.
So, gather up your friends or family or
do it for yourself sometime this summer
and make a trip to downtown Baltimore.
You will thoroughly enjoy each of these
and leave better informed and a little
wiser.
While you are there, stop by Attman’s
Deli (attmansdeli.com) at 1019 East
Lombard, a few steps from all three
museums. It’s been there since 1915.
Visit the website for its very long history. Grab a corned beef sandwich or a
kosher hot dog. Take your food into the
Kibbitz Room where you can compare
notes on what you’ve seen and learned.
As Shakespeare wrote, and as
inscribed at the National Archives (visit.
archives.gov), “What’s past is prologue.”
The past provides context for the present and influences the future. Let these
museums provide the past, context
for our world today, and influence your
future.
Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland
African American History & Culture
If you haven’t taken the time to visit
the Lewis Museum, you are missing
out on an incredible journey into the
past and an overview of more than 400
years of history in its permanent collection. Take a journey through Maryland
African American history in the areas
of industry, politics, leisure activities,
sports, media, the arts, education, the
military and more.
President Terri Lee Freeman is a
fount of knowledge and speaks lovingly
of museums in general and the Lewis
Museum in particular. “Museums are for
everyone. As a child, among the ones
I visited were the Field Museum and
the Museum of Science and Industry in
Chicago. I realized these places are for
everyone to enjoy, to learn and to discover connections.”
Freeman then mentioned one of her
favorite stories. “Did you know that the
statue on the Dome of the Capitol was
created by enslaved iron artisans in
Maryland? It was named Freedom with
the hope that when it was installed, the
people who would work in the building
below would provide freedom to all.
“Most of the history is not taught
formally. Museums, like ours, provide the
personality of each time of life, how the
people lived, what their lives were like.
That’s why we chronicle the history of
each age. I don’t need to be an historian
to be interested in human history. We
have many more similarities than differences, even among different ethnicities
and racial groups. They may have been
closer in days past than now, but all of
them seem to have similar evolutions
that we can share. That’s why a day of
listening to stories, to being open minded, and to have an ‘AHA’ moment as
we grasp what life was like at that time,
that’s why it is so important.”
The Lewis Museum has a current exhibit, iWitness: Media and the
Movement, that will run through 2025. It
is a compelling exhibit that examines how
media – Radio, Television, Photography,
and the Press – impacted the modern
American Civil Rights Movement. This
exhibit commemorates the 60th anniversary of the monumental Civil Rights
Act of 1964, and explores the efforts of
activists, community leaders, and organizations in the state of Maryland who leveraged the power of media to open the
eyes, hearts, and minds of many, forcing
them to bear witness to injustices while
compelling them to seek change.
Another exhibit you don’t want to
miss is TITAN: The Legacy of Reginald F.
Lewis. Lewis was an extraordinary man
who died too young. He accomplished
so much in his short 50 years and left a
legacy of philanthropy in addition to his
business acumen.
TITAN offers an in-depth journey into
Museums,
continued on page 18
