Accessing the Archives

Interested in creating your own family archive? Check out this great resource from the Black Metropolis Research Consortium!

We are currently working on archiving bank documents from the 1920s and 1930s from the Germantown Bank Building.

Every community owes its existence and strength to the generations before them, around the world, who contributed their hopes, dreams, and energy into making the history that led to this moment.

Truth and acknowledgement are critical in building mutual respect and connections across all barriers of heritage and difference.

So, we acknowledge the truth that is often buried: We are on the ancestral lands of the Piscataway People, who are the ancestral stewards of this sacred land. It is their historical responsibility to advocate for the four-legged, the winged, those that crawl and those that swim. They remind us that clean air and pristine waterways are essential to all life.

This Land Acknowledgement is a vocal reminder for each of us as two-leggeds to ensure our physical environment is in better condition than what we inherited, for the health and prosperity of future generations.

This official University of Maryland Land Acknowledgement was created by a working group of students, faculty, and staff who worked closely with Native and Indigenous Elders.