People of Baltimore

Many different peoples have worked and resided in Baltimore over its long history. The demographics of the port, and later industrial, city have attracted and fostered a diversity of peoples since its very beginning, from French Canadians and Irish and Germans immigrants, to people from Poland and Latin America as well as the Middle East, Asian, and Africa. These people found work at the wharves, in building ships, and in numerous industries from canning to making steel. They ran and continue to run small businesses. Until Emancipation, a portion of this population was comprised of enslaved Africans and African Americans, but Baltimore also was home to a large free Black population that helped make Baltimore a gateway to the South and the North. Together, these people have all contributed to building today’s city.