Marking a year when major state and national anniversaries align, the Jewish Museum of Maryland is set to debut a core exhibition exploring Jewish life in the state from the 19th century to the present.
The exhibition, “Jews of Maryland at the Crossroads of Identity,” opening in April, focuses on the state’s 1826 “Jew Bill,” landmark legislation that allowed Jewish residents to hold public office by removing the required Christian oath, according to a press release. The law represented a turning point for religious freedom in Maryland.
“2026 marks the 200th anniversary of the ‘Jew Bill’ and the 250th year of the United States’ founding,” Andria Washington Hanner, the museum’s director of communications, told Baltimore Jewish Times. “This alignment in commemorative dates provides a timely framework for considering the ideals imbued within the founding of the nation and the ongoing work of realizing those ideals.”
“Crossroads” aims to explore how Jewish communities across Maryland shaped — and were shaped by — the region’s civic, cultural and political life, according to the press release.
Through historical artifacts, archival documents and original films, “Crossroads” underscores stories from urban neighborhoods, small towns and Eastern Shore communities dating back to the 1800s. The exhibition explores immigration, assimilation, antisemitism and civic participation.
“This history belongs to the entire region,” Sol Davis, the executive director of the Jewish Museum of Maryland, wrote in the press release. “The exhibition connects local communal stories to larger conversations about democracy, identity and participation that remain deeply relevant today.”
“‘Crossroads’ is a core exhibition, meaning it is one intended to ground the museum in its mission for an extended period,” Washington Hanner said, adding that the mission is to connect visitors to Jewish experiences and Maryland’s Jewish community to its history.
The name of the exhibition references a metaphor for “intersections and tensions, a place for navigating numerous complex choices,” Washington Hanner said.
“The state of Maryland is located at a geographic crossroads between the north and south,” she said. “Jewish people are often situated at social, cultural and racial crossroads, between assimilation and otherness. Many forces germane to the Jewish experience in Maryland converge at these crossroads and impact upon identity.”
Artifacts on display include objects, photographs and oral histories from the museum’s collection and on loan from institutions such as the American Jewish Historical Society, Johns Hopkins University, Library of Congress, Maryland State Archives, National Archives, Smithsonian museums and the Skirball Museum, according to Washington Hanner.
The Jewish Museum of Maryland also produced an original short film for the exhibition that includes scholars, elected officials, cultural workers and a rabbi providing interpretation about the “Jew Bill” and its modern-day relevance and implications.
In advance of the exhibition, the museum acquired a rare 1829 volume, “Speeches on the Jew Bill in the House of Delegates in Maryland,” which documented the original legislative debates regarding the law. This acquisition was thanks to a grassroots fundraising effort led in part by Eastern Shore community members and supported by more than 20 local donors.
“Crossroads” will feature educational programming, guided tours and public conversations designed to spark dialogue across communities, according to the press release.
After operating for more than a year without a core exhibition, Washington Hanner said she looks forward to “Crossroads,” which will “do the important work of grounding visitors, including students from across the region, in Maryland’s rich and complex Jewish story.”
“I hope the exhibition sparks curiosity and prompts questions,” Washington Hanner said. “I hope visitors leave wanting to dig further into the numerous questions posed within the exhibition and [be] inspired to deepen their commitments to strengthening a pluralistic democracy in the U.S.”
“Jews of Maryland at the Crossroads of Identity” opens at the Jewish Museum of Maryland in Baltimore on April 12. For more information, visit Jewishmuseummd.org.
