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  • Our Impact.
  • 2026 Registration
  • Call For Speakers
  • Our Mission and Vision.
  • Our Programs.
  • Taste of Freedom Tours
  • A Harriet Tubman Story.
  • The Whitney Plantation.
  • A School For Our People.
  • The Ironmaster's Mansion.
  • Contact.
  • More
    • Our Impact.
    • 2026 Registration
    • Call For Speakers
    • Our Mission and Vision.
    • Our Programs.
    • Taste of Freedom Tours
    • A Harriet Tubman Story.
    • The Whitney Plantation.
    • A School For Our People.
    • The Ironmaster's Mansion.
    • Contact.
  • Our Impact.
  • 2026 Registration
  • Call For Speakers
  • Our Mission and Vision.
  • Our Programs.
  • Taste of Freedom Tours
  • A Harriet Tubman Story.
  • The Whitney Plantation.
  • A School For Our People.
  • The Ironmaster's Mansion.
  • Contact.

Welcome To The Taste of Freedom 2026 Virtual Experience

On September 17, 2026, we launched the Taste of Freedom 2026 Virtual Experience on the 177th anniversary of Harriet Tubman’s first attempt to escape slavery on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. 


The National Park Service identifies September 17, 1849 as the date Tubman first fled with her brothers Ben and Henry.


September is also recognized as International Underground Railroad Month, making this an especially meaningful time to explore the people, places, networks, and acts of resistance connected to the struggle for freedom.


That launch date, the month, were all intentional.


Taste of Freedom 2026 brought together historians, authors, researchers, and subject matter experts to explore Maryland’s hidden freedom histories through the people, places, systems, and stories that shaped the American experience.


If you missed the live experience, there are two ways to watch this year's content:

  1. Watch the YouTube Playlist Above
  2. Click on the Subject Matter Experts Image Below. 

Our Taste of Freedom 2026 Subject Matter Experts

Rona Kobell

Dr. Kate Clifford Larson

Dr. Kate Clifford Larson

Presentation Title:

What Harriet Left Behind:

Rural Redlining, Rising Seas 

and Land Loss on 

Maryland’s Eastern Shore

Author and Regional Reporter at the Baltimore Banner

Dr. Kate Clifford Larson

Dr. Kate Clifford Larson

Dr. Kate Clifford Larson

Presentation Title:

The Remarkable Escape of Tilly and Harriet Tubman from Baltimore's Waterfront in 1857.

Historian, Consultant, Author of Bound For the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero and Harriet Tubman: A Reference Guide to Her Life and Works

Scott Shane

Dr. Kate Clifford Larson

Dr. Iris Leigh Barnes

Presentation Title:

Thomas Smallwood, Courageous Activist and Searing Writer

Author of Flee North: A Forgotten Hero and the Fight for Freedom in Slavery's Borderland

Dr. Iris Leigh Barnes

Dr. Kate Clifford Larson

Dr. Iris Leigh Barnes

Presentation Title:

A Teacher in the Fire: Edmonia Highgate and the Battle for Black Education

Executive Director of Hosanna School Museum

Dr. Anne Sarah Rubin

William F. Kelly, Ph.D.

Dr. Anne Sarah Rubin

Presentation Title:

When the Civil War Came to Mobtown:  The Pratt Street Riots

Professor of History UMBC Department of History

Janice Curtis Greene

William F. Kelly, Ph.D.

Dr. Anne Sarah Rubin

Presentation Title:

Harriet Ross Tubman: Freedom's Journey

Janice the Griot

Chris Haley -MSA-

William F. Kelly, Ph.D.

William F. Kelly, Ph.D.

Presentation Title:

Slavery and Race: The Non-PC Topic

Director, Research, Education, and Outreach at the Maryland State Archives

William F. Kelly, Ph.D.

William F. Kelly, Ph.D.

William F. Kelly, Ph.D.

Presentation Title:

Dueling Ideas of Freedom: Slavery Conventions and Freedom Seeking in Baltimore on the Eve of the Civil War

Research Archivist and Historian at the Maryland State Archives

Julie Schablitsky

Marcus "Sankofa" Nicks

Julie Schablitsky

Presentation Title:

The Archaeology of Harriet Tubman's Birthplace 

Adjunct Assistant Professor at University of Maryland

Dr. Ibrahima Seck

Marcus "Sankofa" Nicks

Julie Schablitsky

Presentation Title:

The Story of Slavery in the U.S. (An Immersive 3D Virtual Reality Tour of the           Whitney Plantation)

Director of Research at the Whitney Plantation

Jyoti Mohan, Ph.D.

Marcus "Sankofa" Nicks

Marcus "Sankofa" Nicks

Presentation Title:

Where History Lives: Local History and Personal Connection in the Social Studies Classroom

Commissioner, Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture

Marcus "Sankofa" Nicks

Marcus "Sankofa" Nicks

Marcus "Sankofa" Nicks

Presentation Title:

The Legacy of Benjamin Banneker, The Paradox of Liberty and the Meaning of Freedom

Historian and Educational Leader. Founder of History Heals Consulting

Dr. Iris Leigh Barnes

Dr. Iris Leigh Barnes

Dr. Iris Leigh Barnes

Presentation Title 1:

The Untold History of Eliza Parker, Belle Vue Farm, and the Christiana Resistance

Presentation Title 2:

A Teacher in the Fire: 

Edmonia Highgate and the Battle for Black Education

Executive Director of Hosanna School Museum

Marlena C. Jareaux

Dr. Iris Leigh Barnes

Dr. Iris Leigh Barnes

Presentation Title:

Telling Local History Through the Lens of the Name Harriet (When Tubman Didn't Come To Our County)

Executive Director HoCo Roots Revisited, Inc.

Beryl F. Hunter

Dr. Iris Leigh Barnes

Beryl F. Hunter

Presentation Title:

Unmasking History: Permanence When Stability was Denied

Founder, Cultural Revenue Strategist at Elelyon Cultural Solutions LLC dba Heritage Hunters Collective TM

Aleem Allison

Dr. Iris Leigh Barnes

Beryl F. Hunter

Presentation Title:

Benjamin Banneker: 

The Definition of Freedom

Historian/Museologist at Benjamin Banneker Historic Park and Museum

Mrs. Nerissa Williams Scott

Mrs. Nerissa Williams Scott

Mrs. Nerissa Williams Scott

Presentation Title:

From Archive to Augmented Reality: Bringing Black Freedom Stories Into Public Space

Founder at That Child Got Talent Entertainment

Aaron Rice

Mrs. Nerissa Williams Scott

Mrs. Nerissa Williams Scott

Presentation Title:

Digital Heritage Preservation Taste of Freedom: Baltimore Mapping The System. A Digital Reconstruction of Slemmer's Alley

Founder/CEO VRCOLAB

EXPLORE THE NEW TASTE OF FREEDOM APP

Free Access Through December 31, 2026.

Discover the People, Places and Hidden Stories Behind Baltimore’s Fight for Freedom From Wherever You Are.

https://tasteoffreedomtours.stqry.app

Why This Experience Matters Now

The fight for freedom didn’t end in the 19th century.

  • The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 still echoes in modern enforcement systems 
  • Stories of resistance are still being uncovered 
  • Legal systems continue to define who is protected — and who is not 


Taste of Freedom 2026 connects historical truth to present-day reality.

How It All Works

  • Virtual experience 
  • 30-minute sessions + 
  • Pre-recorded thought leaders and subject matter experts
  • On-demand replay access 
  • Free Taste of Freedom: Baltimore App Access

Register Now

From History to Action

What They Didn’t Teach You

What They Didn’t Teach You

What They Didn’t Teach You

  • New research on freedom seekers 
  • Untold stories of resistance 
  • Legal frameworks shaping freedom

Understand the Methods

What They Didn’t Teach You

What They Didn’t Teach You

  • Genealogy, archaeology, archival research 
  • Digital storytelling + interpretation 
  • Descendant community-based research 

Apply What You Learn

What They Didn’t Teach You

Apply What You Learn

  • Classroom-ready insights 
  • Public history strategies 
  • Tools for storytelling & engagement

What We’re Exploring

  • The Fugitive Slave Act Then & Now 
  • Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Nicholas "Nick" Biddle, Thomas Smallwood, Charles Torrey, Nathaniel "Nace" Hopkins, Robert Smalls Colonel William Birney & Freedom Fighters 
  • Civil War Legacy (165th Anniversary) 
  • Lynching In Maryland
  • Law, Citizenship & Resistance 
  • Descendant Community Histories 
  • Art, Digital Media & Storytelling

Trusted By Industry Leaders

  • Our Impact.
  • 2026 Registration
  • Call For Speakers
  • Our Mission and Vision.
  • Our Programs.
  • Taste of Freedom Tours
  • A Harriet Tubman Story.
  • The Whitney Plantation.
  • A School For Our People.
  • The Ironmaster's Mansion.
  • Contact.
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

Virtual Reality Collaboration Lab (VRCOLAB)

aaron@vrcamstudios.com

443-244-0051

Copyright © 2026 VRCOLAB - All Rights Reserved.

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