Category: Advocacy

Standing Up For Baltimore City Public Schools

Question 1: Function f is defined as f(x) = x2-6x+14. What is the minimum value of f(x)?

This complicated query above was Question 1 on the Maryland math exam that Donald Trump referenced yesterday in making disparaging remarks about Baltimore City Public School students and our school system generally. Among other things, Mr. Trump said that students who failed the exam could “not [do] even the very simplest of mathematics.” (Can you solve the above math problem? We can’t.) We thought we’d highlight a few Baltimore City Public School graduates who could have solved this question. The list is of course nowhere near complete but we hope it gives a little historical perspective of one of the first public school systems founded in the United States (1829).

 

Nancy Roman

Nancy Roman – Astronomer and NASA’s first Chief of Astronomy (Western High School)

 

 

 

 

Valerie Thomas

Valerie Thomas – NASA mathematician and inventor (Western High School)

 

 

 

 

 

 

John Archibald Wheeler

John Archibald Wheeler – Theoretical physicist who Stephen Hawking called “the hero of the Black Hole story” (Baltimore City College)

 

 

 

 

Martin Rodbell

Martin Rodbell – Biochemist and 1994 winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology (Baltimore City College)

 

 

 

 

 

John Clauser

John Clauser – Physicist and winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics (Baltimore Polytechnic Institute)

 

 

 

 

 

–Johns Hopkins, Executive Director

Email Your Support of Historic Conservation Districts

Later this month the Baltimore City Council will decide whether to add historic conservation district designation to the city charter. Conservation districts would give the city’s underserved historic neighborhoods a way to participate in historic designation and historic tax credit benefits, but not have all of the design restrictions of a CHAP district (a locally designated historic district). Baltimore Heritage has helped develop and supports the creation of conservation districts. Please consider sending a short email to the City Council saying you support conservation districts. The email is testimony@baltimorecity.gov. Learn more about conservation districts here.

What Are We Planning for 2025? And why we need your support to make it happen.

There are only a few days left in 2024, which means you have only a few days left to donate or become a member this year! We are a small organization so a gift of any size – from $5 to $500 – will help immensely. Here are a few highlights for how your gift will help in the year ahead:

Heritage Tours:

This past year we began hosting three new bus tours and even a new Inner Harbor history boat tour! This spring we will be able to return with more robust tours and events, including more boat tours. Please stay tuned!

Five Minute Histories Videos: 

Our Five Minute Histories series offers a way to connect that in-person programs just can’t. So, don’t worry, these are here to stay, and we’re ramping up for a full year of them in 2025.

Critical Preservation Work: 

This past year we helped restore the Perkins Square Gazebo in the Heritage Crossing neighborhood. In the coming year, we are planning to work with our partners in Herring Run and Leakin Parks on projects that will celebrate the parks’ histories and help improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

 

We need your help today.

 

We at Baltimore Heritage are a little bit unusual. We rely heavily on kind volunteers to make our work possible, and nearly three quarters of our annual operating income comes from gifts from individuals. Most of these gifts are at our basic membership levels of $35 for an individual and $50 for a family. By donating at any level, be assured that your support goes a long way.

So once more for 2024, please accept an enormous thank you to everyone who volunteers with us, comes out for tours and programs (in-person and virtually!), and supports our work by generously donating. We look forward to working with you and connecting with you in the year ahead.

— Johns Hopkins, Baltimore Heritage

What Are We Planning for 2024?

And why we need your support to make it happen!

There are only a few days left in 2023, which means you have only a few days left to donate or become a member this year! We are a small organization so a gift of any size – from $5 to $500 – will help immensely. Here are a few highlights for how your gift will help in the year ahead:

  • Heritage Tours: This past year we began hosting tours at Westminster Hall & Burying Ground in addition to our recurring tours at Clifton Mansion, Green Mount Cemetery and in historic neighborhoods around our city. This spring we will be able to return with more robust tours and events, including three new bus tours. Please stay tuned!
  • Five Minute Histories Videos: Our Five Minute Histories series offers a way to connect that in-person programs just can’t. So, don’t worry, these are here to stay, and we’re ramping up for a full year of them in 2024.
  • Critical Preservation Advocacy: This past year we helped fight to preserve architecturally significant rowhouses on Preston Street in Mt. Vernon and several buildings in the Five & Dime Local Historic District near Lexington Market. In 2024, we will continue this work throughout the city, which a special focus on disinvested historic neighborhoods.

 

We need your help today.

 

We at Baltimore Heritage are a little bit unusual. We rely heavily on kind volunteers to make our work possible, and nearly three quarters of our annual operating income comes from gifts from individuals. Most of these gifts are at our basic membership levels of $35 for an individual and $50 for a family. By donating at any level, be assured that your support goes a long way.

So once more for 2023, please accept an enormous thank you to everyone who volunteers with us, comes out for tours and programs (in-person and virtually!), and supports our work by generously donating. We look forward to working with you and connecting with you in the year ahead.

— Johns Hopkins, Baltimore Heritage