GREAT BLACKS IN WAX CELEBRATE 33 YEARS

It has been a while since East Baltimore, Md. has anything to celebrate, especially on one of the main streets, NORTH AVENUE. Once a thriving business district with merchants, and peddlers of wares mixed in; now, a simple tributary, to get from one side of Baltimore to the other.

After Sears Department store left, others took flight, even the commercial banks took a hike. The cemetery at North and Greenmount has stayed put, can you guess why? That is often reflective in a black community, the thriving institutions are the Police, the Court House, and the undertaker, and they are doing well on North Avenue.

Some 33 years ago, a young couple thought of celebrating pride among black folk, and started THE GREAT BLACKS IN WAX MUSEUM. Beginning with their own apartment and a few wax figures, Elmer and Joanne, worked a steady hand to find a permanent home for their wax figures, and finally made it to 1601 East North Avenue.

It is now 2016, Elmer left the world some time ago, but Joanne called upon her ancestral strength, and continued to guide her ship through ” the middle passage”. The Great Blacks in Wax is going to be as large as a strip mall, and this month has begun the celebration. Take a look.

In honor of Mary Carter Smith, famous Griot from Baltimore.

Kuji books — Celebrating the black press

Counting — Teaching black kids another language

Douglas by Shaw — Frederick Douglas, painted by Shaw

New Wax Museum — The upcoming new Great Blacks in Wax Museum, for 1601 E. North Avenue, in Baltimore, MD.

Published by Oswald Copeland

Born 1946, Georgetown Guyana, South America. Broadcast journalist since 1968. Been living in the United States, since 1974. Has done extensive work in sales and marketing, and likes to write about culture in and around Baltimore Md. His personal passion is healthy living: www.losebumpsloselumps.com. Creator and Executive Editor of THECULTUREPAGEDOTCOM. View more posts

3 thoughts on “GREAT BLACKS IN WAX CELEBRATE 33 YEARS”

Very nice work in covering the Great Blacks in Wax museum in East Baltimore,

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Thanks for the updated information about the future of the Great Blacks in Wax Museum and cultural center
We need commentary about our black culture because our children need to know our history
as expressed by those who experience the black cultural diaspora platform in it’s many dimensions

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