In a series of hate-filled tweets over the last several days, the President of the United States disparaged Congressman Elija Cummings and everybody who lives in Baltimore. In addition to a multitude of things the President got wrong, he demonstrated a profound lack of understanding of American history, in particular our history of racism, discrimination, and the Civil Rights struggle for equal rights.

What is a non-profit organization that has been dedicated to Baltimore for nearly 60 years to do? We can’t change the President, but we can help share the history of incredible Baltimoreans who stood up and changed the course of history in our city and our country. Please join Baltimore Heritage director Johns Hopkins for a free walking tour of Market Center focusing on Baltimore’s Civil Rights history and how it remains critically relevant today. The tour will run from 11:00 am to noon. Immediately after the tour, all are invited to buy lunch on your own at Lexington Market and continue discussing Civil Rights in Baltimore and America.

From 1921 until its closure in 1994, the Parker Metal building on West Ostend Street produced decorative metal sheets that were used in everything from tin cans to waste baskets, including the metal containers that held our own Old Bay Seasoning. Please join us and the building’s owner and redeveloper Mr. Sam Himmelrich to see and learn a little about Baltimore’s industrial past through this great adaptive reuse project.

If you thought that the garment industry in Baltimore was a relic of the past, think again and join us on this repeat of Fashions Unlimited! Since its founding in 1976, Fashions Unlimited has been manufacturing clothing from its South Baltimore factory and is going as strongly today as ever. With sewing machines and a skilled workforce of designers, cutters, and sewers, it produces a range of products from bathing suits for start-up businesses to sportswear for Fila, Nike, and Champion. Please join us and company founder Phil Spector on a tour of the Fashions Unlimited factory in action and learn how “Made in the USA” is happening here in Baltimore.

If you haven’t been to Lexington market in a while, or even if you’re a regular there, we hope you’ll join us on a tour of this iconic Baltimore place to learn about recent changes and plans for the future of the market. On the tour, we will talk with the owners of Faidley’s, Berger’s, Konstant’s Candy, and other vendors that have been in their stalls for 100 years or more. We will also go down and explore the catacombs under the marketplace, getting a first-hand look at these mysterious spaces that are normally closed to the public.