.png)
.png)
Visit
Getting Down to Business: Harford County’s Black-owned businesses played an integral role in the economic history of the county. Send us artifacts from your own businesses. Receipts, business cards and licenses all tell the story of Harford’s historical Black enterprises.
Businesses
Arts, Culture, &
Community Organizations
Listen to Nella Dodd sing the classic
“Come See About Me” here.
Remembering Edgewood Heights: Read Harvey Smith Jr.’s ode “Back in the Day” and listen to Maurice Dorsey’s childhood recollections of his experiences in the military community--from a segregated swimming pool to an integrated playground. Feeling nostalgic for your own old neighborhood? Send us your reflections.
Communities
Have official church history to share? The Historical Society houses photos and memorabilia from congregations throughout the county. Insure your church’s history will be remembered by contributing to the collection.
Churches
Pioneers forge paths for others to follow. The first chronicle of African American history in Harford County was undertaken in 2016 by local historians, who compiled over 100 pamphlets documenting people, places and achievements in the local Black community. These historians entitled their series Campaign 42, in honor of Jackie Robinson, the first African American to integrate Major League Baseball. Robinson’s number with the Brooklyn Dodgers was 42.
The Historical Society has the full collection of Campaign 42 pamphlets in our digital collections. Sign up here to browse the list. Then make a request, and we’ll send you a digital copy to enjoy.
Being First
Class photos and/or yearbooks to share? The Historical Society has over 50,000 photographs in our collection. Help us identify old class photos and get you and your old schoolmates in the picture!
Education
This is the space to introduce the Services section. Briefly describe the types of services offered and highlight any special benefits or features. Encourage site visitors to learn more by exploring the full list of services offered.
Military
“The school, when they started having Health Day, I think. We had a dentist that would come, a Black dentist… He would come to the church, Ames Methodist Church, and he set his stuff up in the kitchen, and then the parents would get the kids lined up and he would examine them and tell them if they needed dental work, and then he would come back and do the dental work.” – Evelynn Peaker Clayton, who grew up on Bond Street in Bel Air, describes dental care for African American children before the arrival of Harford County’s first African American dentist, Dr. Lehman Spry.
Healthcare
Slavery to Freedom
The Historical Society of Harford County, Inc. (HSHC) houses a wealth of historical documents, including a collection of court records regarding enslavement and emancipation in eighteenth and nineteenth century Harford County. Visit us at 143 North Main Street in Bel Air to study, explore and help preserve these records by becoming a member and/or volunteering with us.
Preservation of our County history depends on all of us!
In 1968, Maurine McKinley, a Black woman from Havre de Grace and Mary Woodward, a white woman from Bel Air, formed a biracial discussion group called “The Dirty Dozen.” One of their discussion topics included an exercise in “Soul Isometrics.” Give it a try for yourself. Are the questions still relevant today?
To learn more about Harford County’s civil rights history, visit the Harford Community College’s Harford Civil Rights Project here.
Racism & Resistance
Sports
Harford County Roster of Black Champions—Do you know an exceptional African American athlete from Harford County? Then send us your picks and help us grow our gallery. But don’t stop there. Also nominate your favorite athlete for the Historical Society’s Harford County Sports Hall of Fame. Bel Air’s Bill Brown and Aberdeen’s Irv Pankey were inducted as part of our inaugural 2024 class. Place your nomination for a future Harford Hall of Famer here.
