The Jane Gates House
In the six years between Maryland's Emancipation and 1871, Jane Gates worked as a laundress and a nurse, amassing the $1400 she used to purchase the property at 515 Greene St. in Cumberland, Maryland. An amazing feat for anyone, but made even more amazing because Jane was the mother of five.
One hundred and fifty years later, one of her great-great-great grandsons, John E. Gates, and his family are seeking to turn that home that was so important to early African American Cumberland into a place that once again will serve the surrounding community.
Jane Gates is the great-great grandmother of Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr., the Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard, and Dr. Paul E. Gates, the Chairman of Dentistry Emeritus at BronxCare Health System.
In 2021, the Cumberland Mayor and City Council declared August 31st. to be "Jane Gates Day" in honor of this remarkable woman.
Our Mission
The mission of the Jane Gates Heritage House is to enhance the lives of all through faith, education, and history.
The mission of the Jane Gates Heritage House is to enhance the lives of all through faith, education, and history.
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