Harriet Tubman Cultural Center

About the Program

Category: Arts, Culture and Historic Preservation

Year: 2023

The Harriet Tubman School opened in 1949, in a neighborhood founded by recently freed slaves, as Howard County’s only all-black high school until it was closed in 1965 when desegregation ended in the County. The Howard County Public School System used the school for 50 years before transferring the ownership to Howard County to be preserved as a historic, educational and cultural center, renamed the Harriet Tubman Cultural Center.

The Department of Public Works managed the full building rehabilitation of the former Harriet Tubman High School, working closely with the Department of Recreation and Parks and the Harriet Tubman Foundation. The new facility celebrates the life of Harriet Tubman, commemorates the history of the Harriet Tubman High School, and the impact of African Americans in Howard County and beyond. The renovated building includes office space for the Harriet Tubman Foundation, exhibit space including a preserved classroom, a reading room/ Library and program space that is managed by the Department of Recreation & Parks.