On Maryland’s 158th anniversary of emancipation, Annapolis recognized as slave port “site of memory”

Residents, local leaders and politicians crowded the church pews and walls of Asbury United Methodist Church in Annapolis Tuesday to recognize the city’s history as a slave port. The standing-room-only event, held on the 158th anniversary of emancipation in Maryland, was a celebration of Annapolis being designated as a “Site of Memory,” one of five locations in Maryland and 42 across the United States where enslaved Africans first arrived in the Americas. Residents, local leaders and politicians crowded the church pews and walls of Asbury United Methodist Church in Annapolis Tuesday to recognize the city’s history as a slave port. The standing-room-only event, held on the 158th anniversary of emancipation in Maryland, was a celebration of Annapolis being designated as a “Site of Memory,” one of five locations in Maryland and 42 across the United States where enslaved Africans first arrived in the Americas.