Category: Volunteer

Baltimore Heritage Needs a Few Good Quilters!

If you are an experienced sewist who would like to use your skills and talents to join other volunteers in creating a group project that celebrates Baltimore, this post is for you.

Baltimore Heritage would like to submit a quilt to the 2026 Homage to Baltimore Quilting Competition, https://www.homagetobaltimorequiltingcompetition.com, and we could use extra hands to help create a quilt that reflects Baltimore Heritage’s commitment to Baltimore’s communities via places, people, and traditions.

Our idea is to create quilt blocks that are inspired by the subjects of our Five Minute Histories videos. We have a few subjects in mind but will also consider suggestions (please visit our YouTube channel for inspiration). Blocks will be a standard size (yet to be determined) and will include space to cite the topic being represented as well as the quilter’s name. Blocks can include a wide ranging of quilting techniques including (but not limited to) piecing, applique, and embroidery. Blocks will be due March 1 to give us time to assemble and quilt the piece by the April 1 deadline.

Our initial though is that volunteers would work on their blocks individually, though we will schedule a meeting kickoff via Zoom once we have our volunteers in place. If, however, there is a desire for a dedicated sew-in day, we could try to make that happen. We will ask for progress photos from individuals to be able to provide updates via social media, so our community can see us at work.

What we cannot do:
-teach quilting or piecing—experienced sewists only
-provide sewing machines
-provide materials—though if someone is in need, there’s a good chance we can crowd source small pieces of fabric

What we can do:
-coordinate and make assignments
-handle quilt assembly, quilting, and submission
-provide updates via social media
-answer questions
-enthusiastically cheer on this project!

If this sounds like something you would like to be involved in and have time for, please contact Mary Zajac at zajac@baltimoreheritage.org by Tuesday, January 20. Thanks!

One Month Away: Join Us at Our Preservation Celebration 2024

We are one month away from our Preservation Celebration 2024 at the newly refurbished Hollins Market and we hope you’ll join us! On October 10, we’ll honor our 2024 Preservation Award winners and, with your help, give out five microgrants to people working on the front lines in our historic neighborhoods. We’ll say thank you to our volunteers and honor all of their hard work this year. This gathering also acts as Baltimore Heritage’s annual meeting where we elect new board members. With food and drink from Baltimore vendors, we hope you will join us for what promises to be a wonderful evening. We hope you’ll join us on October 10!

Register here! Tickets are free with a suggested donation of $25.

–Johns Hopkins, Executive Director

2024 Preservation Celebration: Save the Date – October 10 & Send Us Ideas for Awardees and Micro Grants

We are thrilled that this year’s Baltimore Heritage Preservation Celebration will be at the newly restored historic Hollins Market. Please join us on October 10. It’s free and we’d love to have you with us.

On October 10, we’ll honor our 2024 Preservation Award winners and, with your help, give out five micro-grants to people working on the front lines in our historic neighborhoods. We’ll say thank you to our volunteers and honor all of their hard work this year. This gathering also acts as Baltimore Heritage’s annual meeting where we elect new board members. With food and drinks from Baltimore vendors, we hope you will join us for what promises to be a wonderful evening. The event is free with suggested voluntary donation of $25.

In addition to joining us on October 10, please take a minute to send us your suggestions for our annual preservation awards. And if you are helping improve a historic neighborhood or place in the city, please consider applying for one of our microgrants. See below for more information.

 

 

About Our 2024 Historic Preservation Awards

At our October 10 celebration, we will honor people in Baltimore who over the last year have made an impact in helping save our historic places and improve our historic neighborhoods.

Our awards recognize work of all kinds: people who have done an excellent rehab job on their house or building; people who have volunteered at a historic site; people who have stepped up to improve their historic community with a new program or partnership. Individuals are eligible, as are organizations, corporations, and government agencies or programs. Self nominations are encouraged! Please send nominations to info@baltimoreheritage.org by September 4.

 

About Our 2024 Microgrants

We’re in our 9th year of giving away micro-grants to help fund preservation work in the city. If you have a good idea to help preserve a historic building or place in Baltimore or help revitalize a historic neighborhood, we’d love to hear from you! The process is easy: simply fill out the online application and hit send by September 13.

We’ll pick the most promising ideas and give them a chance for one $2000 grant, two $1000 grants and two $500 grants. The grants will be given on October 10 at our Preservation Celebration at Hollins Market (35 S Carrollton Ave, Baltimore, MD 21223). Supporters of each idea will get three minutes to pitch them and at the end, all of us present will cast ballots to decide which ideas receive the micro grants.

The types of eligible projects are endless, and as long as they relate to Baltimore’s history, heritage, historic buildings or historic neighborhoods we will consider them. Past award winners include: restoring leaking masonry at a historic church, launching an after school arts-based safe space program in a historic neighborhood, supporting archaeological efforts at a historic furnace, and providing supplies for a community trying to provide access to a neighboring park. The sky’s the limit!

The amounts of the award ($500, $1000, and $2000) may not be enough to complete an entire project. That’s OK. The goal is to help spark new and support existing neighborhood-level preservation work. You don’t need to be a nonprofit organization or even a formalized group to be eligible. Individuals and small groups are welcome! Complete rules can be found on the application.

Thank You for Attending Our Preservation Celebration 2023!

Last night, Baltimore Heritage had its annual Preservation Celebration! We handed out 13 awards to groups and individuals doing fabulous work celebrating and preserving our city’s history and buildings. We gave out 6 micro-grants to 6 very worthy community projects. We conducted our organization’s annual meeting and welcomed a few new board members. And we said a big thank you to our wonderful volunteers. They make historic preservation possible in Baltimore. All the while, we ate delicious food from Pitamore and drank wine from Spirits of Mt. Vernon! Thank you to everyone attended.

 

Award Winners 

Volunteer of the Year: Pat Hawthorne
For years of dedication to Baltimore’s historic places

Afro Charities
For 60 years of preserving the Afro American Newspaper’s history

Various organizations accepting the 2023 Preservation Award for Lexington Market

Raymond Bahr
For bringing the history of Canton to light

BGE Gas Regulator Fighters
For fighting for Baltimore’s historic neighborhoods

Siobhan Hagan and SHAN Wallace
For bringing Baltimore’s historic moving images and home movies to light

Friends of Herring Run Park
For creating the Heritage Trail at Herring Run Park

The Authors and Editors of A Place for Memory
For a new book on Laurel Cemetery

Maryland Women’s Heritage Center
For promoting the history of the Women’s Suffrage Movement

E. Evans Paull
For the book Stop the Road: Stories from the Trenches of Baltimore’s Road Wars

The Friends of the Ship Caulkers’ Houses
For the stabilization and exterior restoration of 612-614 S. Wolfe Street

Cory Ann Adcock-Camp
For the reclamation and restoration of 1810 Barclay Street

Latrobe Building / Ulysses Hotel
For restoration of the historic Latrobe Building into the Ulysses Hotel

Lexington Market
For conserving public market heritage in the new Lexington Market

 

Pitch Party Winners

TyJuan Hawkins of St. Luke’s Youth Center pitching a microgrant project

$1000: St. Luke’s Youth Center

$1000: Govans Presbyterian Church Racial Justice Ministry

$1000: Maryland Women’s Heritage Center

$500: Friends of Herring Run Park

$500: Baltimore Lab School

$500: Baltimore Crime Museum

Join Us at Our Preservation Celebration 2023 on October 19!

Join us for our Preservation Celebration 2023 at Open Works. On October 19, we’ll honor our 2023 Preservation Award winners and, with your help, give out four micro-grants to people working on the front lines in our historic neighborhoods. We’ll say thank you to our volunteers and honor all of their hard work this year. This gathering also acts as Baltimore Heritage’s annual meeting where we elect new board members. With food and drinks from Baltimore vendors, we hope you will join us for what promises to be a wonderful evening. Register here! 

 

About Our 2023 Historic Preservation Awards

At our October 19 celebration, we will honor people in Baltimore who over the last year have made an impact in helping save our historic places and improve our historic neighborhoods.

Our awards recognize work of all kinds: people who have done an excellent rehab job on their house or building; people who have volunteered at a historic site; people who have stepped up to improve their historic community with a new program or partnership. Individuals are eligible, as are organizations, corporations, and government agencies or programs. Self nominations are encouraged! Please send nominations to info@baltimoreheritage.org by September 25.

 

About Our 2023 Microgrants

We’re in our 8th year of giving away micro-grants to help fund preservation work in the city. If you have a good idea to help preserve a historic building or place in Baltimore or help revitalize a historic neighborhood, we’d love to hear from you! The process is easy: simply fill out the online application and hit send by September 25.

We’ll pick the most promising ideas and give them a chance for one of two $1000 grants and two $500 grants. The grants will be given on October 19 at our Preservation Celebration at Open Works (1400 Greenmount Ave, Baltimore, MD 21202). Supporters of each idea will get three minutes to pitch them and at the end, all of us present will cast ballots to decide which ideas receive the micro grants.

The types of eligible projects are endless, and as long as they relate to Baltimore’s history, heritage, historic buildings or historic neighborhoods we will consider them. Past award winners include: restoring leaking masonry at a historic church, launching an after school arts-based safe space program in a historic neighborhood, supporting archaeological efforts at a historic furnace, and providing supplies for a community trying to provide access to a neighboring park. The sky’s the limit!

The amounts of the award ($500 and 1000) may not be enough to complete an entire project. That’s OK. The goal is to help spark new and support existing neighborhood-level preservation work. You don’t need to be a nonprofit organization or even a formalized group to be eligible. Individuals and small groups are welcome! Complete rules can be found on the application.