Hagerstown Magazine - The Best of Life in Washington County & Beyond

January/February 2010
Looking Back, Looking Forward
A Permanent Home is on the Horizon for the Priceless Artifacts Comprising the Doleman Black Heritage Museum.

by Charissa Beeler Stanton + photos by Jason Turner

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In an unassuming Locust Street home, an amazing array of artifacts sits, waiting quietly. There are Aunt Jemima cookie jars, black Santa Clauses and myriad other dolls and figurines. There are slave bills of sale, family trees and black census records from Hagerstown dated between 1860 and 1870. There are buttons from the Civil Rights era, memorabilia from Hagerstown’s Harmon Hotel and freedom quilts from the mid-19th century, created by former slaves to commemorate their freedom.

These are among the items that make up the Doleman Black Heritage Museum’s collection — bits and pieces of history that come together to tell the rich story of African-American history in Washington County. The collection that the late Marguerite Doleman started in the mid-1970s spans a period from the pre-Civil War 19th century to the late 20th century and is comprised of thousands of artifacts — autographs, birth records, more than 450 books, paintings, photographs and much more. Marguerite left behind an incredible legacy in her vast collection — a legacy that her family, along with the City of Hagerstown, is working to preserve and present to the public through a permanent home for the Doleman Black Heritage Museum. “This is a very vital piece of Washington County history,” says Jay Kelsh, Marguerite’s nephew and the museum’s vice president. “Without the museum, without the artifacts — a large piece of Washington County history would be lost.”