A community-based learning course honoring and preserving the legacy of Fayette Street Outreach in Southwest Baltimore
Community-Based Projects
In Spring 2024, undergraduate students at Johns Hopkins University spent a semester working in Southwest Baltimore. Through a course supported by the Center for Social Concern, the Center for Africana Studies, and the Chloe Center, co-taught by historians, archivists, artists, and community partners, students learned grassroots neighborhood history, developed new skills in community archiving, and practiced engaged public arts beyond what they knew—or thought they knew—about Southwest Baltimore. Residents of the Fayette Street community led the way and re-introduced students to a part of the city long stigmatized for its narrative ties to The Corner (1996), later The Wire (2000s), by organizing class discussions, creating neighborhood walking tours, and providing interviews to the students. This website offers a snapshot of what was a dynamic, community-engaged classroom that took shape well-beyond campus boundaries.
Oral Histories
Neighborhood Maps
Community Art
Fayette Street Outreach
Fayette Street Outreach (FSO) is a nonprofit all-volunteer organization founded in 1993. The organization’s community boundaries encompass Mulberry Street, Monroe Street, Gwynns Falls Parkway, and Warwick Avenue in Southwest Baltimore. FSO’s mission is to build a better, safer, and healthier community; help our youth be able to fulfill their dreams; help our senior citizens feel safe in their neighborhoods; and build a brighter future for every resident of our community. FSO aims to achieve this mission by building up our community so that we can meet our economic needs, our youth can build a brighter future for themselves, and we can help heal our community from the violence within our society. Ms. Edna Manns-Lake is founder and president and FSO.
Edna Manns-Lake, “The History of Fayette Street Outreach” (pdf)
