SOME STORIES SHOULD NEVER DISAPPEAR.
Across Baltimore, extraordinary stories of slavery, resistance, freedom-seeking and Black community life remain hidden in places people pass every day.
Some of those places have changed. Some are unmarked. Some no longer exist at all.
Taste of Freedom exists to make the invisible visible.
Through place-based storytelling, guided experiences and digital preservation, we reconnect people to the places where history happened—so the stories can be experienced, understood and carried forward.
Our Story
Taste of Freedom began with a question: What if people could experience African American history hidden in places they pass every day?
For founder Aaron Rice, that question grew out of years of using immersive technology and 3D digital twins to document physical places. But the work revealed something larger: preserving a building, landscape or historic site wasn't enough. The stories connected to those places needed to be preserved too.
Baltimore became the starting point.
As we began researching and mapping the city's freedom history, a network emerged, people, places and events connected to slavery, resistance, freedom-seeking and Black community life that are often taught separately, overlooked or not taught at all.
Taste of Freedom grew from an effort to document that network into something people could actually experience: stand in the places, hear the stories, see the evidence and understand how they connect.
Today, Taste of Freedom brings that history to life through guided walking experiences, harbor experiences, regional heritage excursions and a growing digital preservation network.
We don't want people to leave simply knowing more about Baltimore. We want them to leave seeing Baltimore differently.
A FUTURE WHERE THESE STORIES REMAIN VISIBLE.
Our Mission
To make the invisible visible.
Taste of Freedom preserves Baltimore's hidden African American histories, reconnects people to the places where those stories happened, and creates experiences that help each generation discover, understand and carry them forward.
Vision 2035
A future where African American history is not hidden, forgotten or disconnected from the places where it happened, but preserved, accessible and experienced by people everywhere.
Our Core Values
PRESERVE THE PLACE
Protect the places and preserve their connection to the history that happened there.
HONOR THE STORY
Tell history with care, context and respect for the people who lived it.
EXPAND ACCESS
Make these histories accessible to students, residents, visitors and future generations.
BUILD CONNECTION
Use history to connect people, places and communities across generations.