Reginald F. Lewis Museum’s leader to retire this year

Leadership changes are coming to the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture, including the retirement of its president.

President Terri Lee Freeman, who joined the downtown museum in 2020, will step down in December, the organization’s board of directors announced in a press release Wednesday.

A search committee picked by the board will start a national search for Freeman’s successor.

“During her tenure, Terri has led the Museum with vision and purpose, advancing its mission, expanding its reach, and enhancing its role as a leading cultural institution in Maryland and beyond,” W. Drew Hawkins, the board’s outgoing chair, said in a statement.

Hawkins’ eight-year term as the Lewis Museum’s board chair has also concluded, per the release. The museum dedicated its reception and terrace in Hawkins’ honor.

Kim Mumby Green, a current member of the Lewis’ board, was elected as the new chair, per the release.

“As we look to the future, I remain deeply committed to supporting the Museum’s mission, ensuring its long-term sustainability, and building upon the strong foundation that has been established to preserve, celebrate, and share Maryland’s African American history and culture for generations to come,” Green said in a statement.

Under Freeman’s tenure, the museum celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2020 with the exhibition “TITAN: The Legacy of Reginald F. Lewis,” which highlights the life and legacy of Lewis. A Baltimore native and Paul Laurence Dunbar High School alum, Lewis became the first African American to run a billion-dollar business, the food and drink company TLC Beatrice International.

In March, Freeman publicly responded to a Baltimore Sun article about the Lewis Museum that included the headline, “This struggling Baltimore museum costs taxpayers $91 per visit.”

“There are people — quietly and not so quietly — who are betting on institutions like ours not making it. Betting that the work is too hard. That the resources will not come. That the community will not show up,” Freeman wrote on the museum’s Instagram account. “We intend to prove them wrong.”

On Friday, the Lewis Museum, located at 830 E. Pratt St., will host a free Juneteenth celebration from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event will feature live music and dance performances, including TSU Terry, along with artmaking, a Miss Juneteenth Pageant, a film screening and more.