Historian, Educator Museum Professional
Community Leader
Research Projects
Select List of
Research Projects
Eliza Parker's Escape Site at Belle Vue Farm
Skeletons in the Closet:
Genealogy and Colorism
The African American
Legacy in Farming
Transition to Freedom in the Lower Susquehanna Region
Maryland Heritage Area (Grant supported by MHT)
Male & Female Colored School No. 1 at the Peale Museum Site
Worth Repeating: Notable Quotes from Ellen Garrison Jackson,
19th Century Rosa Parks,
“‘What’s Love Got to Do with It’:
The Christiana Resistance from
New Perspectives”
“Alexandria to Angola: The Unbroken Chain of Slavery”
“Enslaved to Enlisted: Lewis Harris, A Man of Honor”
Uncovering Untold Stories
Ground-breaking research is at the core of the projects that Dr. Barnes implements. Her primary research interests fall within the wake of the Civil War to the aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement. She reflects: "The legacy of slavery resulted in a long Civil Rights Movement that some scholars might argue, has not ended but simply manifests differently over time. Lately I have been researching the female Reconstruction teachers and their role in the struggle for freedom. These women displayed a sense of urgency, commitment for the cause, and raw courage like I have never seen. Women like Edmonia Highgate and Ellen Garrison Jackson are individuals that I admire and whose stories I am eager to tell."
Dr. Barnes specializes in regional DELMARVA and Chesapeake history where many of these untold stories are waiting to be discovered.
She has a high success rate in obtaining grant support to execute her research projects from "cradle to grave."
GRANTS: WRITING, MANAGEMENT,
and/or PARTICIPATION
Select List of Grants
Institute for Museums and Library Services (IMLS), 2019 to present
“Capacity Building and Curriculum Development for Baltimore City Public Schools |$250K
Maryland Heritage Areas, Lower Susquehanna Heritage Greenway, 2019 to present
“Transition to Freedom in the Upper Chesapeake” | $38K
Institute for Museums and Library Services (IMLS), 2017 to present
“The Long Civil Rights Movement in the Upper Chesapeake,” serving as researcher for the Robbins House, Concord, MA
National Park Service Civil Rights Grant, “1320 Eutaw Place, Lillie Carroll Jackson’s Home for Freedom” to complete a cross-generational interdisciplinary oral
history project, 2017. | $50K
Baltimore National Heritage Area Operational and Student Engagement Grant for the Lillie Carroll Jackson Civil Rights Museum, 2017. |$10K
Maryland State Legislative Bond Bill for Capital improvements and permanent exhbition development for McComas Institute, 2017. |$50K
Maryland Historical Trust for Rehabilitation of McComas Institute, 2017. |$100K
Harford County Tourism Grant for tourism-related programming for Hosanna School Museum, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015 |$ 45K per year
Preservation Maryland Grant for social history research of Hosanna School and McComas Institute, 2016 | $5K
A “Created Equal” grant from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and
the National Endowment for the Humanities through the Bridging Cultures program in
support of the “Faces of Freedom” initiative, 2013. | $1,500