Though little-known, this community was significant. Anthropologist Abraham Makofsky once referred to it as “perhaps the single largest grouping of Indians from the same tribe in an American urban area.” It became an organizing hub for Indians in the Mid-Atlantic and a model for urban Indian communities everywhere. In the decades since, due to a complex set of factors ranging from upward mobility, to civil unrest, to Urban Renewal, to gentrification, the area was transformed and most Indian people moved away from the neighborhood, if not from the region.

Over the course of a year, artist and folklorist Ashley Minner Jones (Lumbee) and photographer Jill Fannon Prevas collaborated with 16 Baltimore Lumbee elders to produce forever-accessible records of their everyday lives and likenesses. Ashley recorded new oral histories, asking each elder questions like: What are you most proud of in your life? What do you like to do for fun? What do you hope for the Indian community of Baltimore? Is there anything you’d like young people of our community to hear from you? Jill accompanied Ashley on visits with the elders to photograph activities of their choosing. They visited front porches, diners, churches, malls, bingo halls, back yards, and more. 

A public exhibition debuts on Indigenous Peoples Day, 2025, in the place where many of the elders gather to exercise and socialize daily, Eastpoint Mall. It consists of 20 free-standing banner displays, each featuring a portrait of elders and a QR code link to this page for access to more images, full interview recordings, transcripts, and further information about the project. The exhibition will tour beginning in November 2025.