Responding, Recovering and Thriving after COVID-19: Digitizing the Freedom Bound Exhibition
FAIN: GA-274526-20
Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture (Baltimore, MD 21202-4403)
Damika Baker (Project Director: May 2020 to present)
Retention of six positions to create an online version of its exhibition on runaway slaves.
Freedom Bound: Runaways of the Chesapeake (Freedom Bound), a hands-on, multisensory exhibition from which visitors learn about the experiences of real-life runaway slaves and servants whose stories are often overlooked in the broad context of slavery, was scheduled to open at the Lewis Museum on April 11, 2020. Due to the stay-at-home order the public has yet to experience the exhibition. Designed to encourage visitors to touch garments and participate in interactive, tactile activities, COVID-19 and the fears associated with the pandemic require a different approach. The Lewis Museum proposes to create a “digital twin” of the exhibition. The “twin” will allow visitors to experience Freedom Bound from the safety of their home. The online version of the exhibition will be accessible and valuable to students and educators in Maryland and throughout the country as well as to older adults and others considered high-risk for COVID-19 and unable or unwilling to visit the museum in person.