2014 in Review - Baltimore Heritage

A monumental year for preservation in Baltimore

With the support of generous members and dozens of volunteers, this has been a monumental year at Baltimore Heritage. As we wrap up our work for 2014 and look ahead to 2015, I want to share a review of what we’ve accomplished and highlight just a few of the many people who are saving historic places in Baltimore. At Baltimore Heritage, we feel privileged to work on a wide range of projects that help to preserve and revitalize historic places in the city. And all of this work is only possible with your support. Thank you from all of us at Baltimore Heritage. I hope you enjoy our look back at the work we all made happen for Baltimore this year. — Johns Hopkins, Executive Director

In 2014, Baltimore Heritage conducted over sixty tours of forty-four unique historic places around the city.

We offered more heritage tours than ever before

Thanks to our tour coordinator Marsha Wise, Education Committee Chair Lesley Humphreys and a tremendous group of volunteers, our heritage tours continued to thrive. Let’s take a look at a few numbers:

We counted over 1500 participants on tours at 44 historic places
More than 60 volunteers helped to organize, lead or host a tour
We contributed over $2000 to nonprofit historic sites

Following on the success of our Looking Up Downtown tours in 2013, we launched two more monthly tour programs in 2014 highlighting the Shot Tower and the Patterson Park Observatory. Thanks to our partnership, the Carroll Museums hosted nearly three times as many visitors at the Shot Tower as last year.

Special thanks to our 2014 tour volunteers!

Annie Applegarth Marty Azola Karen Bomberger Claude Bowen Ralph Brown Tracy Brown Mark Cameron Julie Canard Andrew Colletta Kate Creamer Patrick Cutter Jeanne Davis Jed Deetz Nathan Dennies

Lesley Humphreys Jamie Hunt Cindy Kelly Nicole King David Knipp Peter Krug Sara Langmead Gary Letteron Lindsey Loeper Richard Naing Deene Nettles Rev. Jesse Parker Steve Preston Carol Quigley

Lisa Doyle Kate Drabinski Dominick Dunnigan Elaine Eff Birgitte Fessenden Nick Fessenden Kirby Fowler Todd Harland White Pat Hawthorne Lisa Hillring Elise Hoffman Jenny Hope Tim Horsley Adam Hull

Cathy Rosenbaum Walter Schamu Wayne Schaumburg Joanne Shepherd Fred Shoken Lisa Simeone Rock Singewald Kelly Spring Kathy Wandishin Susan Warren Paul Warren Barbara Weeks Jane Woltereck Roland H. Woodward

When you fight to save historic buildings, it helps to take a long view. It sometimes takes years of effort to see real results.

We built partnerships to save historic places

It is with particular excitement that we see good news on the horizon for the Hebrew Orphan Asylum. Dr. Gary Rodwell and the board of the Coppin Heights Community Development Corporation have championed a compelling vision that is winning support from funders and community partners. We hope the rehabilitation of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum may begin as soon as this winter. In February, we celebrated when the Waverly Main Street won recognition as a National Register historic district. The designation opens new financial incentives for maintenance and rehabilitation projects for local businesses and homeowners. Special thanks to Tom Gamper, Joe Stewart, and Elise Hoffman with the Waverly Main Street program, and Peter Kurtze with the Maryland Historical Trust for their hard work in making this project happen. Don’t forget to check out our new historic tax credit guide for a comprehensive introduction to city, state and federal historic tax credits!

One of our most exciting projects of the year was We Dig Hampstead Hill – an archeological investigation searching for the War of 1812 in Patterson Park – with funding from the Maryland Heritage Area Authority and the National Park Service American Battlefield Protection Program and partners including the Friends of Patterson Park and Archeological Society of Maryland. We engaged over 700 school children on hands-on field trips at the park and talked to countless visitors about the project. Finally, this fall, we completed two additional National Register historic district nominations for the Midtown Edmondson and Edmondson Village neighborhoods in West Baltimore. While the nominations are still making their way through the designation process, we are continuing our work in West Baltimore, advocating for the Red Line and celebrating area landmarks through new print and digital publications.

New historic districts in Midtown Edmondson and Edmondson Village

The thousands of artifacts we found in Patterson Park included a musket ball and flint lock from the War of 1812, a mini ball and belt buckle from the Civil War, and even a 5000 year old arrow head from the Piscatawy people. Learn more about We Dig Hampstead Hill.

We reached out in historic neighborhoods

In addition to historic preservation advocacy, our projects and partnerships illustrate the importance of history and archeology to promoting Baltimore’s neighborhoods, enriching the education of Baltimore children, and protecting beloved neighborhood parks and landmarks.

Add your content here. Thousand unknown plants are noticed by me: when I hear the buzz of the little world among the stalks, and grow familiar with.

Greater Hampden Heritage Alliance

Nathan Dennies started volunteering with us in 2013 as a student at the University of Baltimore working on a literary heritage tour for Explore Baltimore Heritage. After graduation, Nathan continued to volunteer and, with our support, began organizing the Greater Hampden Heritage Alliance in early 2014. The effort has taken off as Nathan and a great community of volunteers created a stylish walking tour brochure for Hampden area landmarks and raised funding to print 5,000 copies! Learn more about the Greater Hampden Heritage Alliance.

Northeast Baltimore History Roundtable

Lauraville resident Christine Muldowney volunteered to organize a Baltimore by Foot tour of her neighborhood back in 2012 and discovered a new appreciation for her community’s history and architecture. Christine was inspired to organize the new Northeast History Roundtable to foster knowledge of and appreciation of this area’s rich history. With support from Baltimore Heritage, the group has organized tours and talks and embarked on an ambitious survey of Herring Run Park to protect archeological resources from the early history of Baltimore. Learn more about archeology in Baltimore and the Northeast Baltimore History Roundtable.

We used new tools to teach a new generation of historians

Our Explore Baltimore Heritage website and smartphone application continues to showcase historic images from partner institutions and essays from a diverse group of contributors. In 2014, the website saw nearly 20,000 visitors and the smartphone app saw 1,200 downloads for a total of over 3,000 downloads between iOS and Android since we launched in 2012. At the same time, we published dozens of new stories – including our first series on the theme of labor history thanks to volunteer historian Rachel Donaldson.

Explore Baltimore Heritage is about more than telling stories. It is a platform that enables collaboration, scholarship and education. So some of the most important numbers for Explore Baltimore Heritage in 2014 are pretty small. We’re very excited about the work of seven aspiring public historians working with one exceptional professor at the University of Maryland Baltimore County in one amazing Baltimore park. This spring, Dr. Denise Meringolo and her students from the UMBC Department of History brought their enormous energy to help us develop a digital tour for the Friends of Druid Hill Park. Thanks to support from volunteer park steward Tom Orth, we are excited to spread the word about the new tour when the farmer’s market returns in 2015.

UMBC students contributed stories about Druid Hill Park

“On the west side of Druid Lake, opposite of the Moorish Tower, stands an imposing statue. At nearly 30 feet from the ground to the tip of the sword, the Wallace the Scot statue strikes an imposing figure. Bearing little resemblance to Mel Gibson’s ‘Braveheart,’ the question remains of why a statue of a national Scottish hero is in Druid Hill Park.”

— Jessi Deane on the William Wallace Monument

“The Wagner Bust is as German as any statute could be. Cast in bronze, mounted on a granite base, and situated on the lawn of the Rogers-Buchanan Mansion, the bust of German composer Richard Wagner was created by a German-born sculptor R.P. Golde based on a portrait by German painter Franz van Lenbach.”

— Allyson Schuele on the Richard Wagner Memorial Bust

“In 1955, ground was broken at Mondawmin. The old fences of the estate were torn down, as were the mansion, barns and stables, as the tree lined pastures gave way to parking lots. On October 4th, 1956, Mondawmin Mall officially opened with enough free parking spaces for over 4,000 customers.”

— Ryan Williams on Mondawmin Mall

We grew financial support for preservation

Individual membership and corporate support remain a cornerstone of support for Baltimore Heritage. In 2014, we also saw continued growth in revenue from our tour programs. Grant support enabled us to take on new opportunities, such as our We Dig Hampstead Hill archeology project in Patterson Park. Our small size enables us to spend those membership dollars wisely. Over 75% of our budget is dedicated directly to programs, with administrative and fundraising efforts making only a small portion of our total expenditures.

Grant and Foundation Support

Bunting Family Foundation Donald and Louise Epstein Foundation Maryland Heritage Area Authority National Park Service American Battlefield Protection Program Patterson Foundation Abell Foundation Dr. Frank C. Marino Foundation,

Corporate Sponsors

Agora Inc. Azola Companies Cho Benn Holback + Associates Delbert Adams Construction Group LLC East End Design Group Freedom Car Freeman Architecture Hord Coplan Macht, Inc. Lewis Contractors Murphy & Dittenhafer National Lumber Co. O’Connell & Assoc. Penza Baily Architects PNC SM+P Architects Southway Builders, Inc. Terra Nova Ventures Whiting Turner Contracting Company Ziger/Snead Architects

Thank you to everyone who made 2014 a landmark year for Baltimore Heritage. Please become a member or renew your support. We need you to help sustain our work in the new year!