April Lunch and Learn – Changing Cultures and Landscapes: Transforming the Riversdale House Museum

Presenter: Maya Davis, Executive Director of Riversdale Historic Site

Join Riversdale House Museum Director, Maya Davis as she shares the groundbreaking work to transform a traditional 19th century historic house museum into a community centered space and descendant inspired space focused on social justice. She will share the ways that the team has worked to reimagine the museum’s interpretation, build relationships with a changing community, and incorporate the perspectives of Riversdale descendants.

Maya Davis is the Director of the Riversdale House Museum, a former 19th Century Plantation home that interprets the lives of the Stier and Calvert families, as well as the overwhelming majority of enslaved individuals held in bondage, and indentured and hired workers. Prior to her arrival at the museum, she was employed at the Maryland State Archives. In her role as Research Archivist, she consulted on statewide projects that documented, interpreted and preserved African American History. Some of her recent projects include the commission of a mosaic portrait of Adam Francis Plummer, participating in the Thurgood Marshall portrait team, the Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman Statue installation at the Maryland State House, the Annapolis Port Marker project, and the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Park and Visitor Center. She currently serves on the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture, the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and is a board member of the Prince George’s County Historical Society and the Maryland Center for History and Culture. Maya is a graduate of Howard and George Washington Universities where she obtained degrees in History and Museum Studies.