Category: History

2021 Fall Lecture: Mapping Baltimore Apartheid (Virtual Talk!)

Our 2021 Fall Lecture is virtual this year! On Friday, join us and the Baltimore Architecture Foundation to kick off Doors Open Baltimore with Dr. Lawrence Brown, author of The Black Butterfly: The Harmful Politics of Race and Space in America! Register here!

Dr. Brown will put Baltimore under a microscope, looking at the causes of segregation and drawing on extensive research of data and policy. Brown will demonstrate how data visualization can be a tool to distribute resources to communities in need, and speak to the roles of design, planning, and preservation in healing and restoring redlined Black neighborhoods.

Dr. Brown’s presentation will be followed by a discussion and Q&A moderated by author and journalist Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson.

Participating discussants include:

Seema Iyer, Ph.D, Associate Director of the Jacob France Institute, University of Baltimore

Tom Liebel, FAIA, Vice-President of Moseley Architects and CHAP Commission Chair

Nakita Reed, AIA, Associate, Quinn Evans Architects

A limited number of signed copies of The Black Butterfly: The Harmful Politics of Race and Space in America are available through the Baltimore Architecture Foundation bookstore at the Baltimore Center for Architecture and Design. Books can be purchased using one of the Eventbrite ticket options, either “Delivery” or Pick Up.” Further details on getting your book will be included in the confirmation email. Questions? Reach out to Nathan Dennies at ndennies@aiabalt.com.

Doors Open Baltimore 2021 includes a month’s worth of virtual and in-person programming. Visit www.doorsopenbaltimore.org for more information. We are pleased to be sponsoring this event in partnership with the Baltimore Architecture Foundation, which is handling registration.

 

About this event

This program is hosted on Zoom and Facebook Live. Upon registering you will receive an email confirmation and a Zoom link. If you do not receive a link, please contact ndennies@aiabalt.com. If you do not contact us at least 1 hour prior to the start of the program, we cannot guarantee admittance.

Tickets are donation based. We encourage you to give what you can to support BAF and Baltimore Heritage. Your support helps us make up for lost tour and program revenue from COVID-19 and create more virtual programs like this.

This talk is part of Free Fall Baltimore which is presented by BGE, and is a program of the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts, an independent non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.

Introducing Our New Video Series on South Baltimore’s Industrial Legacy with the Baltimore Museum of Industry

Baltimore Heritage is pleased to be launching a new series, South Baltimore: In the Shadow of Industry, created with our friends at the Baltimore Museum of Industry. Tune in on Wednesdays for five videos about different industrial sites in Locust Point. Today’s episode showcases the Procter & Gamble factory, today’s Under Armour headquarters!

New Preservation Project: Announcing Partnership to Support the Bruce Street Arabber Stable, and a Baltimore Tradition Too!

Baltimore Heritage is delighted to be partnering with the Southwest Partnership and the Bruce Street Arabber Stable to help keep the historic stable on Bruce Street from collapsing.

Current owners Dorothy and David Johns wish to continue the tradition of arabbing (a-rab-bing)–in which melodious vendors sell fruit and vegetables from colorful, horse-drawn wagons–out of this stable, but their endeavors are threatened by a tree growing in the rear wall. This project will help protect the stable and allow it to continue growing into a vital community gathering place. 

This two-story, brick stable has been in operation since at least 1897 when this street was still called Bruce Alley. Since then the property has changed owners more than seven times before landing in the hands of Dorothy and David Johns. Dorothy’s grandmother, Mildred Allen, was one of Baltimore’s most successful arabbers, and the first female stable owner in Baltimore. Dorothy wants to celebrate her family’s past, and Baltimore’s unique arabbing culture, by continuing to shelter horses and wagons at the Bruce Street stable. 

The Baltimore Sun, December 9, 1897

Last year, Baltimore Heritage became aware of the need for stabilization of the building. After a site visit in November 2019 with staff from Baltimore Heritage and the Southwest Partnership, the Southwest Partnership retained a structural engineer to provide a preliminary assessment of the necessary work. The engineer concluded that there were three primary areas that needed to be addressed: the rear wall, the roof, and the internal support joists. 

We worked with Dorothy and David and the State of Maryland to secure funds and now work has begun. Check back to get periodic updates on its progress! 

 

For more on Baltimore arabbing: 

The Arabbers of Baltimore: A Photo Essay by Roland Freeman

The Arabbers of Baltimore City: A Market on Wheels by Madeline Ross

Seeking Proposals for Contract Researcher

Baltimore Heritage is seeking proposals to undertake a survey of African American heritage sites within the Old West Baltimore National Register Historic District. The work will include documenting historic sites in a spreadsheet format and preparing Maryland Inventory of Historic Places forms for five places.

Update: With regard to COVID-19, this position does not require in-person contact or in-person meetings. It does require research that could include accessing physical collections and archives at places like the Pratt Library, the Afro-American archives, and other repositories. Currently, these are closed to visitors and re-opening schedules have not been announced. If it is determined that accessing physical collections is a necessary part of this research, and these places remain closed for an extended period of time, we will work with the contractor to adjust schedules and expectations.

The deadline to apply in August 21, 2020.

To apply, please follow the instructions in our Request for Proposals. 

For questions, please contact Baltimore Heritage director Johns Hopkins at 410-332-9992 or hopkins@baltimoreheritage.org.