LOCAL SCREENING

Monday, Feb. 26, 4:00 p.m.

• Maryland Horse Foundation
  321 Main St.
  Reisterstown, MD 21136

Fourth Monday Event: The Legacy of Black Horsemen documentary

The Maryland Horse Library & Education Center celebrates Black History Month with a showing of The Legacy of Black Horsemen .

Produced by PBS affiliate KET in Lexington, Ky., this hour-long documentary tells the stories of the Black horsemen who shaped the sport through its embryonic period in the 19th century. The documentary uses interviews with historians, paintings, and more to capture the impact of Black horsemen on racing.

The Legacy of Black Horsemen tells the stories of Black jockeys, trainers, owners, grooms, and exercisers in the 1800s whose contributions helped lay the foundation for the Thoroughbred industry. It is an era that paralleled slavery, the outbreak of the Civil War, and the ensuing segregation and Jim Crow laws that generations would face and overcome to be successful. 

Utilizing contemporary interviews, reenactments, historical photographs and paintings, the film highlights the Black horsemen who were instrumental in making Thoroughbred racing America’s first national pastime. The program is funded in part by the KET Endowment for Kentucky Productions.

The image of the painting First Futurity by L. Maurer appears courtesy of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

Attendance is free. The Maryland Horse Library & Education Center is the largest library of its kind on the east coast, its shelves holding thousands of books dedicated exclusively to horses. Visitors may browse shelves on a variety of topics, from breeds to training methods, riding disciplines to the history of horse sports, and much much more. 

Officially opened in December 2022, MHLEC serves as a hub for learning and collaboration, while honoring the long history of horses in Maryland. In addition to its non-lending, special collections reference library, MHLEC offers a meeting space, a gallery, educational exhibits and programs.