DUNDALK, Md. — A new exhibition at Eastpoint Mall is shedding light on a largely unknown chapter of Baltimore's history — the story of the Lumbee Native American community that has called the city home for decades.
WATCH: Baltimore's Hidden History: New Exhibit Celebrates Native American Community
The exhibit, "Beyond Baltimore Street: Living Lumbee Legacies," highlights how the majority of Native people living in Baltimore are citizens of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. Many families, like that of Jeanette Jones, moved to Baltimore in 1959 as part of a post-World War II migration from the South seeking work opportunities.
"You never hear nothing about Native Americans. It's like we're forgotten people," Jones said.
The migration story mirrors that of many other families who came to Baltimore for economic opportunities, but this narrative is finally being told through the lens of the Native American community.
The exhibition was curated by Jones' niece, Dr. Ashley Minner Jones, a folklorist and former UMBC professor of American Studies. The project represents the culmination of a year-long Library of Congress grant initiative.
"When my niece was about four or five, I said to her, you're going to go with me and you're going to learn about your people. And she learned all about her culture. She did the history and the research that you're going to be able to see today," Jeanette Jones said.
Ashley Minner Jones collaborated with photographer Jill Fannon Prevas to work with 16 Lumbee elders, recording their stories and preserving their experiences. The participants included Jeanette and her husband, Heyman Jones.
"It's really important that we do it right now because many of the people featured in this exhibit are in their 80s. One is 99 and uh one actually passed away over the course of the project. So, it's almost like we couldn't get it done fast enough," Ashley Minner Jones said.
The Lumbee community established roots in East Baltimore, particularly around Broadway Avenue — an area they affectionately call "the reservation." Despite maintaining their cultural identity, the community integrated with the surrounding neighborhoods.
"As soon as Lumbees got here, I would say the majority of folks intermarried, so every ethnicity there is in East Baltimore, there's now a Lumbee version of that. We have Polish Lumbees, uh, African American Lumbees, Greek Lumbees, Italian Lumbees," Ashley Minner Jones said.
The community preserved their culture through the Baltimore Native American Center. The oral histories, transcripts and photographs collected for this project will be archived at the Library of Congress and in the Ashley Minner Collection at UMBC's Kuhn Library.
"There are generations, including mine, after them that can only explain who they are by talking about Lumbee and Baltimore, and that's because they made a decision to come here and stay," Ashley Minner Jones said.
The exhibit runs at Eastpoint Mall until November 7, after which it will tour the region.
