Baltimore Black Sox Memorial Project

South Baltimore Gateway Partnership | Baltimore City, MD

• Project Description

  The Baltimore Black Sox Memorial Project is a community-led initiative honoring the legacy of the Baltimore Black Sox, a historic Negro League team whose impact shaped both Baltimore’s cultural identity and the history of American baseball. As part of the Reimagine Middle Branch program, the project brings together the community to create a permanent memorial that celebrates Black history and preserves this important legacy for future generations.

• Activities

  • Led outreach, engagement, and communications strategy for the memorial design and governance initiatives.

  • Conducted stakeholder mapping and outreach to descendants, historians, and community leaders.

  • Supported development and promotion of artist RFP and coordinated artist outreach. 

  • Planned and executed public events, educational programming, and storytelling initiatives to build awareness and celebrate the legacy of the Baltimore Black Sox.

  • Designed branded outreach and event materials to create a consistent project identity across the project.

  • Established a governance framework to support the memorial's long-term funding, maintenance, and stewardship.

• Our Impact

  Assedo led the project's outreach, engagement, and communications strategy, guiding community participation throughout the memorial's planning and design. We engaged descendants, historians, artists, community organizations, and public officials to shape the memorial's vision, generated excitement through inclusive outreach, supported the artist selection process, established a long-term governance framework for future stewardship, and developed a cohesive brand identity that unified the project across every touchpoint.

  Our outreach approach focused on meeting people where they are, through public events, student engagement, storytelling, and direct outreach to descendants. A few highlight events include the student research showcase and baseball clinic with Coppin State University, a Black History Month panel and workshop event at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum, and a community “Meet the Artists” event featuring shortlisted artists and their memorial concepts. Together, these efforts built awareness, allowed for meaningful community input, and helped to ensure the memorial represents and reflects the history and the people it honors.