Living Statement

As the Reginald F. Lewis Museum turns 15, its mission remains as relevant as ever.

- RON CASSIE

Philip Freelon and Gary Bowden built the mission of the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture into its walls. Two of the country’s most successful Black architects, they combined the bold colors of the state flag with a striking five-story geometry, embedding the themes of struggle and resilience and the story of Black Marylanders into the black granite, glass, brick, and mortar edifice. “We saw the museum site was next to the [Star-Spangled Banner] Flag House and that’s where we got the idea of re-interpreting the Maryland flag—we Afrocentricized it,” Bowden recalls. “It was one of the first things we decided. Black became ebony—that one is obvious—red became crimson, representing passion but also blood, yellow became gold, and the white we saw as ivory, which means enlightenment. By incorporating the state flag’s colors into the building, we set the history of Black Marylanders and Black Americans alongside the history of America that’s reflected next door at the Flag House museum. They are not separate histories, but part of the same story of this country.” The design also includes a wide, ascending staircase and five-story atrium, which provides natural light to the core of the building. The dynamic red wall, representing pain and struggle, but also pride and accomplishment, starts at the sidewalk outside the museum, slices through its facade, and then rises through each floor.

After its opening 15 years ago this summer, the 82,000-square-foot building, which won awards for its design, was the largest African-American museum in the region and one of the few like it anywhere in the country. Freelon and Bowden also broke a color barrier, becoming the first Black architects to design a major building in downtown Baltimore.