Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/944430
In 2018, the City of Baltimore will be commemorating the Year of Douglass as the nation will be honoring the 200th birth- day of Frederick Douglass. Two hundred years ago, in February 1818, Douglass was born into American slavery in Talbot County on Maryland's Eastern Shore. After residing in Baltimore from 1826-1838, he wrote in his first autobiography that he considered Baltimore his adopted hometown. As was the case with most enslaved persons, Douglass did not know the actual date of his birth however he chose February 14th as the date he would celebrate his birthday. February 14, 2018 will be a most historic date in American history," explains Lou Fields, president of the Baltimore African American Tourism Council, Inc. "I am organizing a February 1, 2018 Frederick Douglass Bicentennial Exhibit at Baltimore City Hall( in the north gallery. The exhibit will chronicle his life with special emphasis on his time in Baltimore, involvement in the Underground Railroad, the Civil War and post 1865 programs." On February 1, 2018, the City Hall exhibit will welcome the sponsors and special invited guests to an opening reception. The exhibit will remain open for public viewing until March 14, 2018. One of the primary goals of the fundraising is cover the costs of bringing Maryland public, private and charter school students to City Hall to tour the exhibit and learn more about Frederick Douglass and his lifelong efforts as an advocate for freedom, justice and equality. "Presently, I am seeking sponsors and donors to assist in the fundraising goal to cover the expenses of producing a high quality, state of the art exhibit honoring one of America's great- est and iconic figures of the 19th century. Sponsorships are available at the Platinum level ($2,500.00), Gold level ($2,000.00), Silver level ($1,500.00) and Bronze level ($1,000.00)," says Fields. "Exhibit sponsors will be listed in the accompanying FD 200 exhibit brochure and acknowledged during the opening program. Donors ($500.00+) will also receive special thanks and recognition," adds Fields Online payments can be sent via www/paypal.com to Fields' email address: loucfields@gmail.com. Checks are payable to B.A.A.T.C. and forwarded to Fields' attention at the address listed above. Please direct your ques- tions to Mr. Lou Fields (443) 983-7974 or by email to: louc- fields@gmail.com. FD 200 updates are announced live on Thursdays, 12noon-1pm on 1010am and listed on www.face- book.com/FredDouglass200. I N T H E N E W S BON, THE 3RD CHARM CITY CULTURAL HERITAGE TOURISM SYMPOSIUM WILL BE HELD IN BALTIMORE ON MAY 10-12, 2018. CARNIVAL IS THE TIME OF CELEBRATION IN BRAZIL AND IAPCO AND RIO DE JANEIRO HAVE PLENTY TO CELEBRATE. B M & T ••• January/February 2018 ••• www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 6 IAPCO (The Internat- ional Association of Professional Congress Organizers) and the Rio Convention & Visitors Bureau announced recen- tly the signing of a collabo- ration partnership agree- ment. Strategically, IAPCO has been focused on expanding its outreach in Latin America, having established destination partnerships in Europe, North America, Asia, Middle East and Austral- asia. Rio completes IAP- CO's stable of exclusive global partnerships, and together they are able to create high quality plat- forms for the exchange of knowledge, business and cultural understanding, IAPCO, with 118 mem- bers across 41 countries, representing more than Carnival Sambodromo in Rio de Janeiro, Rio Carnival are the biggest carnival in world. Copyright: Mikhail Mandrygin