The Peale Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, is the oldest museum building in the United States — and, in the late 1800s, it held the first high school for African Americans in Baltimore and in Maryland. Today it is Baltimore's community museum.
One building, many lives
| Years | Use |
|---|---|
| 1814 | Rembrandt Peale opens his "Museum and Gallery of the Fine Arts" to the public, with art, natural history and other collections |
| 1830 | the city of Baltimore buys the building and makes it the city's first dedicated city hall, the seat of government for about forty years |
| 1878 – early 1890s | schools for African American students in the city's public school system |
| after the schools | shops and manufacturers |
| 1930 | the city reopens it as a municipal museum, the Peale Museum |
| 1997 | the museum closes; the building stands vacant for about two decades |
| 2022 | renovated and reopened |
| 2024 | joins the African American Civil Rights Network |
A school that became a high school
The building opened to Black students as a primary school and grammar school — one of Baltimore's first grammar schools for African Americans. Four years in, community demand added two more grades, turning it into the first high school for African Americans in the city and the state.
Its first class graduated in 1889, and every one of those graduates went on to become an educator or a leader in education for African Americans. Overcrowding and other conditions in the building pushed the last classes out by the early 1890s.
The Civil Rights Network
The African American Civil Rights Network, created by the African American Civil Rights Act of 2017 and coordinated by the National Park Service, recognizes the movement and the sacrifices of those who fought discrimination and segregation. It tells the stories of the movement's people, places and events through public and private properties, facilities and programs.
Sources
Based on "Peale Museum (Baltimore, Maryland)," National Park Service, African American Civil Rights Network; a work of the United States government in the public domain.
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.nps.gov
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