As we head towards the end of the year, I want to say thank you to all of our volunteers, supporters, and members for making this another exciting year of preservation and education at Baltimore Heritage. I also want to ask you to renew your membership (if you haven’t already!).

Membership giving is the largest single source of support for our organization every year. Contributions from members are critical for all that we do, from the Centennial Homes program honoring Baltimore families living in the same house for a century or more to the walking and building tours we organize throughout the year.

Member support also has given us the foundation to launch two major new initiatives in 2015. The first is Baltimore’s Civil Rights Heritage: Looking for Landmarks from the Movement—a partnership with the Maryland Historical Trust to document and preserve places associated with the long history of the Civil Rights movement in Baltimore. Of course, this effort became even more urgent in November with the demolition of Freedom House, the home to Baltimore’s first black City councilman and the long-time headquarters for the NAACP.

The second project is our new Local Preservation School—a unique effort supported by the National Park Service to build an open online educational resource for volunteer preservation advocates around the country. We’re looking forward to offering our first course—Explore Baltimore Heritage 101—in January 2016. This free class will teach people both online and in person how to research and write about historic places.

With your help, the year ahead is full of promise and opportunity. You can count on a full year of walking, biking, and historic building tours. With our community partners in Northeast Baltimore, we are working to bring public archaeology back to Herring Run Park in the spring. And, of course, we are continuing our advocacy to preserve and revitalize irreplaceable historic places from the West Side of downtown to the Hebrew Orphan Asylum.

Membership begins at $35 for individuals and $50 for families and it only takes a few minutes to donate through our website. Thank you again for your support.

P.S. Baltimore Heritage membership makes a great holiday present! With tour and event discounts, it is a gift that keeps on giving throughout the year. Please email me at hopkins@baltimoreheritage.org or call 410-332-9992 for more information.

As we head into the new year, we put together a short video to say thank you for participating, volunteering, supporting, and being a part of all of our work for Baltimore and our historic places. We’re pleased to feature three of our partners this year: Jennifer Robinson and the Friends of Patterson Park, Gary Rodwell and the Coppin Heights Community Development Corporation, and Paula Hankins at the Carroll Museums and Shot Tower. Each is working hard to preserve our rich history and revitalize our neighborhoods, and we are proud to call them partners.

Learn more about what we have accomplished in our 2014 year in review. Please considering joining Baltimore Heritage or making a donation of any amount to support preservation in Baltimore.

Thank you one more time for your great support, have a happy holiday, and we’ll see you in 2015.

As we head towards the end of the year, we want to thank all of our volunteers and members for your support. If you are not a member or have not yet renewed, please consider signing up today. And please get in touch to let us know how we are doing!

We wanted to take the opportunity to share a look back at our work for historic preservation in Baltimore over the past year. We think our heritage tours, new educational efforts and dedicated preservation advocacy are the best reflection of the strength of our board, the creativity of our volunteers, and the generosity of our members. Learn more about what we were able to accomplish in our 2014 year in review.

With your help, the year ahead looks just as promising. We are planning to expand our work with public schools around Patterson Park, offer even more new heritage tours, and launch an important initiative to document and preserve Civil Rights sites in Baltimore.

Membership giving is a substantial share of our operating budget. Our annual memberships start at $35 for individuals and $50 for families but donations of any size are valued. You can even set up a recurring donation to support preservation every month.

Thank you for volunteering and donating. Your commitment is making a difference. Please do not hesitate to call or email with any questions or if we can be of assistance. Have a happy holiday season and I look forward to seeing you in the new year.

Many of our friends and supporters joined us this past Wednesday for a wonderful event at The Ivy Hotel to honor long-time Baltimore Heritage board member and historic preservation advocate Karen Lewand. The Karen Lewand Historic Preservation Fund provides support for a range of education initiatives at Baltimore Heritage from our heritage tours to our neighborhood history programs to our work with students in Patterson Park. The fund has more than doubled in size since its inception, thanks to generous donors and the dedicated staff and volunteers who plan and run our fundraising events and programs!

We’re thrilled to say that the Lewand Fund’s donor roster now includes the Azola family. Not only did Marty and Tony Azola host us at The Ivy but they also made a generous gift that same evening. The Ivy’s staff, including General Manager Rob Arthur and Executive Chef Mark Levy, gave us a preview of the beautifully appointed guest rooms, the fabulous spa (location off the back of the main house in the handsome addition designed by Ziger/Snead Architects) and the exciting Magdalena restaurant in the works.

The Ivy is going to be a show-stopper when it opens this spring and you can already learn more about the history of this landmark on Explore Baltimore Heritage. Thanks again, so much, to everyone who made this event so memorable!