Truxal Library Exhibit - Maryland Emancipation Day, November 1
Welcome to the Truxal Library exhibit in honor of Maryland Emancipation Day! Maryland Emancipation Day is November 1 and commemorates the anniversary of the day slavery was abolished in Maryland. Emancipation came about as part of the Maryland Constitution of 1864, which stated in Article 24:
That hereafter, in this State, there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except in punishment of crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted; and all persons held to service or labor as slaves, are hereby declared free.
To learn more about this unique aspect of Maryland’s history, please explore this selection of articles and books from the library’s collection. Also included are a selection of primary materials from online archives.
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Books & eBooks
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Challenging Slavery in the Chesapeake: Black and White Resistance to Human Bondage, 1775-1865
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Call Number: F187.C5 W455 2007ISBN: 9780938420965Publication Date: 2007-01-01 -
Encyclopedia of Emancipation and Abolition in the Transatlantic World
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Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780765612571Publication Date: 2007-11-15 -
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A Guide to the History of Slavery in Maryland
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Call Number: E445 .M3 G85 2020 & eBookISBN: 9780942370690 -
Imperfect Equality: African Americans and the Confines of White Ideology in Post–Emancipation Maryland
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Call Number: E185.93.M2 F85 1999ISBN: 9780823219636Publication Date: 1999-01-01 -
The Long Emancipation: The Demise of Slavery in the United States
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Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780674088993Publication Date: 2015-09-15 -
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The Men of Mobtown: Policing Baltimore in the Age of Slavery and Emancipation
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Call Number: eBookISBN: 9781469636290Publication Date: 2018-04-09 -
The Mighty Revolution: Negro Emancipation in Maryland, 1862–1864
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Call Number: E512 .W2ISBN: 0938420917Publication Date: 2005-01-01 -
Plantations, Slavery and Freedom on Maryland's Eastern Shore
Call Number: E445 .M3 H43 2019ISBN: 9781467141024Publication Date: 2019-01-21 -
Price of Freedom: Slavery and Manumission in Baltimore and Early National Maryland
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Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780813165097Publication Date: 2015-01-13 -
A Question of Freedom: The Families Who Challenged Slavery from the Nation’s Founding to the Civil War
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Call Number: E441 .T487 2020ISBN: 9780300234121Publication Date: 2020-11-24 -
Slavery and Public History: The Tough Stuff of American Memory
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Call Number: E441 .S625 2006ISBN: 9781565849600Publication Date: 2006-04-03 -
Young Frederick Douglass: The Maryland Years
Call Number: eBookISBN: 9781421425948Publication Date: 2018-08-22
Articles & Chapters
To learn more about the story of Maryland Emancipation Day, a good starting point is the Washington Post article by E. Meyer.
- Callendar, K. (2025, March 27). Maryland moves to establish Maryland Emancipation Day as official state holiday. The BayNet.
- Douglass, F. (1864, November 17). A friendly word to Maryland: An address delivered in Baltimore, Maryland, on November 17, 1864. Frederick Douglass Papers, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
- Ellis, A. (2025, March 13). Remarks in support of Senate Bill 139, to make November 1 a legal holiday [Speech]. Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee; Maryland General Assembly.
- Fuke, R. P. (1988). Planters, apprenticeship, and forced labor: The Black family under pressure in post-emancipation Maryland. Agricultural History, 62(4), 57–74.
- Harris, W. C. (2011). Union and emancipation triumphant: Maryland. In Lincoln and the border states: Preserving the union (pp 269-306). University Press of Kansas.
- King, W. (2014, November). Juneteenth and beyond: African American emancipation celebrations since 1808. The American Historian
- Matheson, J. (2025, October 11). Anne Arundel County to apologize for slavery role but advocates, local leaders and scholars seek more. The Baltimore Sun.
- Makin, K. (2021, June 17). Juneteenth and the belated message of emancipation. The Christian Science Monitor
- Meyer, E. L. (2020, October 31). The crucial absentee ballots that ended slavery in Maryland 156 years ago. The Washington Post.
- Schoeberlein, R. (2014, November 1). Emancipation Day in Baltimore. Baltimore City Archives Blog.
- White, J. (2021). Achieving emancipation in Maryland. In C. W. Mitchell and J. H. Baker (Eds.), The Civil War in Maryland Reconsidered (pp. 236-259). Louisiana State University Press.
Broadside commemorating Maryland Emancipation
Research Guides to Learn More
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Oxford African American Studies Center This link opens in a new windowReference books covering African American history and culture, as well as primary sources like memoirs, letters, speeches, etc.