News

The Haley Memorial is a heavily visited attraction in downtown Annapolis, cherished and enjoyed by many. The Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Foundation often receives and responds to inquiries about the site; however, we have no physical presence in the downtown area. In an effort to improve the quality of the visitor experience to the Memorial and the Annapolis City Dock, the Foundation will be adding virtual tour guides to its website, as well as to the Memorial in two different phases.

During the month of July 2016, the Foundation will be adding Quick Response (QR) Codes to the Haley Memorial. These QR Codes will provide access to virtual video tours that provide interpretive descriptions of the Haley Memorial, as well as readily available informational access about the Memorial to the vast number of visitors to the Annapolis City Dock.

In addition, the Foundation has updated its website to allow visitors to the website to access these virtual video tours as well.  This allows our website visitors to learn more about the Memorial and its background.

Visitors to both the Foundation Website and to the Haley Memorial can access four different educational videos/virtual tours. The four informational videos and the corresponding QR Codes will be added to various component sites of the Memorial which include:

1. The Information Kiosk will be updated to include two (2) different QR Codes covering the following subjects:
   1. an overall Memorial Introduction, and
   2. a description of the Compass Rose & Information Kiosk;
2. The Sculpture Group & Dedication Bollard will include a QR Code describing the Sculpture Group Memorial component and some of its historical background; and
3. The Leonard A. Blackshear tribute plaque will be updated with a QR Code that describes the Story Wall and Leonard A. Blackshear Walk.

The virtual tour informational videos and the installation of the QR Codes will enable the Foundation to provide information that is second only to having a tour guide on hand, and it will greatly advance educational information about the Memorial. In addition, by including access to the virtual tour informational videos on the Foundation’s website, we will be able to provide a more expansive system for sharing information about the Memorial and will greatly aid tourism activity in Annapolis.

Funding for adding the QR Codes to the Memorial is provided primarily through a mini-grant funded by the Four River Heritage Area. Matching resources are provided through support from the City of Annapolis and the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County, among other supporters and donors.