With the official launch of UMD's The 1856 Project, scholars, students, archivists, activists, and local community partners look to place a more critical eye on the Black experience at the university. From its founding as the Maryland Agricultural College (MAC) in 1856, slavery and its repercussions are undeniably linked to the history of the University of Maryland. Unfortunately, we have yet to learn the names and stories of most of the individual African Americans who labored here. Yet we seek to honor them all as we tell you one story.
The Heart of the Table features just one of many microhistories illuminating the relationship between the university and African Americans associated with the institution. In this exhibit, the focus will be on the Dory family and their neighbors living in the Lakeland community just across Route 1. The men and women of Lakeland worked at the university and provided labor to construct, clean, and maintain the College Park campus despite often remaining overlooked to the White students, faculty, and administrators. However, the Dory family's and Lakelanders' labor is not the
entire story. Once they left 11The Hill;' Lakelanders supported the heart of their community as well: they built schools and churches, established shops and businesses, and fostered a sense of community that extended beyond the lines of friendship and family.
As an established African American community in Prince George's County, Lakeland and its residents have persevered through racial segregation, governmental disinvestment, false promises of urban renewal, and continuous displacement. The Heart of the Table illuminates a story of community care, labor, Black resilience, and enduring legacies. Over the course of the Spring 2023 semester, expect to see The Heart of the Table evolve as an exhibit, adding gradually to the story of the Dorys and their colleagues. In collaboration with members of the Dory family and the Lakeland Community Heritage Project, we invite you to critically engage with their stories, looking
at how their connections to both the university and Lakeland shaped their experiences and how these experiences could be imagined today.