Baltimore Heritage

Virtual Talk: Public Artworks of Lake Clifton High School by C. Ryan Patterson
2020-11-06 13:00 - 13:30 (America/New_York) | Virtual, MD, United States
Join artist Ryan Patterson for a presentation about Lake Clifton High School and the legacy of Baltimore’s mid-century public art!
In 1969, Lake Clifton Highschool was the largest public school campus on the east coast and a high profile example of Baltimore’s art in schools program. Now the building sits vacant and awaits demolition. Through the lens of public art we will examine the history of the location, the seven artists commissioned to create contemporary works for the school, and touch on the current predicament of unmaintained mid-century public artworks in aging school buildings across Baltimore City.
C. Ryan Patterson is an artist and arts administrator who lives with his family in Better Waverly, Baltimore. From 2013 to 2019 he was the Public Art Administrator at the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts where he worked closely with advocates and volunteer collaborators to establish an updated inventory of public artworks across Baltimore. He currently serves as a state contractor for public art project management.
This program is hosted on Zoom. 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.

Urban Architecture of Thomas Poppleton and the 1822 and 1851 Baltimore Maps with Dr. Ed Papenfuse
2020-11-13 13:00 - 13:30
Dr. Edward Papenfuse will give a presentation on Thomas Poppleton’s significant contribution to the mapping and the development of Baltimore’s neighborhoods. He will accompany his illustrated remarks on the career of Thomas Poppleton with applying the 1822 and 1851 versions of Poppleton’s map to Google Earth in a quest for lost neighborhoods and the no longer extant architecture of the City.
Edward C. Papenfuse (www.edpapenfuse.com) is the retired Maryland State Archivist and Commissioner of Land Patents. Papenfuse received his undergraduate degree from the American University, an M.A. from the University of Colorado, and a Ph.D. in history from The Johns Hopkins University. He is the author of numerous articles and books, including The Hammond-Harwood House Atlas of Historical Maps of Maryland, 1608-1908 (1982) and The Maryland State Archives Atlas of Historical Maps of Maryland 1608-1908 (2003). He continues to write about Maryland and Baltimore History on his blogs including http://rememberingbaltimore.net. He offers research advice on Zoom on Tuesdays. If interested, request a session at rememberingbaltimore@gmail.com being as specific as you can be about your inquiry and indicating a preferred time.
The Baltimore Architecture Foundation (BAF) and Baltimore Heritage present a series of 30 minute live virtual tours and presentations focusing on Baltimore architecture, preservation and history.
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 program is hosted on Zoom. 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.

The Baltimore Greenway Trails Network: A Virtual Talk on Connecting Baltimore's Trails
2020-11-20 13:00 - 13:30
The Baltimore Greenway Trails Coalition seeks to create a 35-mile world-class network of urban trails that link together the diverse neighborhoods, cultural amenities and outdoor resources that make up the landscape of Baltimore City. The Coalition seeks to fill in the 10 remaining miles to create a connected urban trail network serving all of Baltimore. Incredible opportunities exist to complete this network by repurposing unused railroad corridors, outdated road networks, industrial brownfields, and inaccessible waterfronts into multi-use shared paths which will connect every corner of the city. Participants in this discussion will learn how a coalition of public, private, non-profit, and neighborhood led groups are seeking to turn these barriers in the built environment into community connectors through the Baltimore Greenway Trail Network.
Join us to learn how we are building a coalition as diverse as Baltimore to advance this important project and learn how we have been able to engage with AIA’s Urban Design Committee to bring the power of design thinking to this critical project for Baltimore’s future. As a recent study by EY examined, the potential economic and social benefits of implementing the Greenway will provide a significant economic impact to Baltimore in addition to providing equitable, healthy, low-stress access to open space and reliable transportation, healthy living, and recreation for people of all ages and abilities in every corner of the city. The neighborhoods within a half mile of the Greenway are composed of 58% African-American residents and have a home ownership rate of 48%, which represents similar demographic diversity and home ownership rates to Baltimore. The completed trail will bring economic and social benefits to a wide cross section of Baltimore’s population.
Baltimore Architecture Foundation (BAF) and Baltimore Heritage present a series of 30 minute live virtual tours and presentations focusing on Baltimore architecture, preservation and history.
This program is hosted on Zoom. 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.

Virtual Tour of Baltimore's Historic Hospitals
2020-12-04 13:00 - 13:30
In her position of Director of the History of Medicine in Maryland at MedChi, The Maryland State Medical Society, Meg Fairfax Fielding digs deeply into the organization’s archives and collections, which date to its founding in 1799. Several years ago, she began charting what is essentially a family tree of hospitals that operated in Baltimore, which ones disappeared, which ones merged, and which still survive. In this virtual tour, Meg will share some of the more unusual hospitals in Baltimore, as well as a few we all know, complete with historic engravings and photographs, and maybe a few stories!
The Baltimore Architecture Foundation (BAF) and Baltimore Heritage present a series of 30 minute live virtual tours and presentations focusing on Baltimore architecture, preservation and history.
This program is hosted on Zoom. 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.

The Olmsteds Lay the Foundation for Baltimore’s Modern Park System: A Virtual Talk with Ed Orser
2020-12-18 13:00 - 13:30
For 75 years the nationally-renowned Olmsted firm (father, son, and step-son) played a major role shaping the park system of Baltimore. During a period of rapid growth for the city, they provided comprehensive plans in 1904 and 1926 as well as specific recommendations and designs for park projects. Their legacy is evident in today’s park system.
About the presenter:
Ed Orser is Professor Emeritus of American Studies at UMBC and former president of the Friends of Maryland’s Olmsted Parks & Landscapes. He has taught and conducted research on the social and environmental history of Baltimore; his books include Blockbusting in Baltimore: The Edmondson Village Story and The Gwynns Falls: Baltimore Greenway to the Chesapeake Bay.

The Baltimore Architecture Foundation (BAF) and Baltimore Heritage present a series of 30 minute live virtual tours and presentations focusing on Baltimore architecture, preservation and history.
This program is hosted on Zoom. 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.

Nezahat Arıkoğlu: The Architect Behind the Mid-Century WJZ TV Studio
2021-01-08 13:00 - 13:30
Join us as Jillian Storms presents about Turkish architect Nezahat Arıkoğlu and her midcentury designs! This presentation will highlight the design work of one of the early woman of architecture in Maryland, Nezahat Sügüder Arıkoğlu (1920–2000), who practiced with her husband İlhan Muzaffer Arıkoğlu (1922–1981) in Baltimore in the 1960s before returning to Turkey. They are credited with over 20 nearly modern projects in our region that include apartments, private residences, shopping centers, manufacturing plants, and offices, including WJZ’s TV Studio on Television Hill.
She graduated as an architect from National Fİne Arts Academy of Istanbul in 1943. While Modernism of International Style excited her, she consciously tried to develop her designs to address local and regional requirements. But architecture was only one of her many passions. Her multi-talented artistic repertoire included painting, sculpting, music, fashion design, culinary arts, and critical writing. She and her husband inspired their son, Kaya Arikogluto, carry on the family profession in Turkey where he practices today and maybe joining on the Zoom!
About the Presenter
Jillian Storms, AIA, is an architect and capital programs manager at the School Facilities Branch of the Maryland State Department of Education. She is a former President of the Baltimore Architecture Foundation. Jillian led the Early Women of Architecture in Maryland project, culminating in a traveling exhibition featuring women who practiced architecture from the 1920s to the 1960s and received BAF’s Roger Redden Award and Preservation Maryland’s George T. Harrison Volunteer Award in recognition of her extensive work to bring these stories to light. Jillian continues to work with BAF to bring more stories of women architects to light and document their projects.
This program is hosted on Zoom. 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.
The Baltimore Architecture Foundation (BAF) and Baltimore Heritage present a series of 30 minute live virtual tours and presentations focusing on Baltimore architecture, preservation and history.
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.

Virtual Tour of Baltimore's Historic Early 20th Century School Buildings
2021-01-15 13:00 - 13:30
Meg Fairfax Fielding will share stories of Baltimore schools built in the early 20th century.
Virtual Histories are back in 2021! The Baltimore Architecture Foundation (BAF) and Baltimore Heritage present a series of 30 minute live virtual tours and presentations focusing on Baltimore architecture, preservation and history.
Baltimore is a city filled with a wide range of architectural treasures. Some of the city’s most beloved treasures are its historic school buildings, from the castle-like City College to the modernist Patterson Park High. The best architects in the city competed to design these impressive and important public buildings.
Leading this architectural adventure is Meg Fairfax Fielding, a past-president of BAF. Meg loves to explore Baltimore and the surrounding areas. By day, she is the head of the History of Maryland Medicine at MedChi, which was founded in 1799, but on weekends, you might find her on a lonely road on the Eastern Shore searching for a small, ancient church. Follow her on Instagram at PigtownDesign.
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This program is hosted on Zoom. 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.

Lake Clifton High: The Story of Baltimore's Most Ambitious Modernist School
2021-01-22 13:00 - 13:30
Lake Clifton was Baltimore’s crown jewel of a massive school building effort. What happened?
This presentation will outline the history of Baltimore’s Lake Clifton High School. Completed in 1971 as the crown jewel of a massive school-building effort, the sprawling and state-of-the-art campus was expected to stimulate racial integration and ease school overcrowding. However, white students immediately rejected the school and the campus’ huge capacity was never filled. Lake Clifton developed a poor reputation around the city, and recently closed for good after years of restructuring and physical dilapidation. The campus is likely to soon be acquired and demolished by Morgan State University; thus, now is an ideal time to examine and commemorate Lake Clifton’s role in a tumultuous period of Baltimore’s history.
Julian Frost, grew up in Baltimore and graduated from Baltimore City College in 2019 and is currently a sophomore at Haverford College. He is majoring in the Growth and Structure of Cities program at Haverford’s sister school, Bryn Mawr. Over the past year Julian has developed a great interest in the history of Baltimore’s built environment, and is currently thinking about how to direct this interest into productive, creative, and potentially professional avenues. Julian started an Instagram page (@baltimorebuilthistory) as a repository for his casual research and findings.
This program is hosted on Zoom. 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.
Virtual Histories are back in 2021! The Baltimore Architecture Foundation (BAF) and Baltimore Heritage present a series of 30 minute live virtual tours and presentations focusing on Baltimore architecture, preservation and history.
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.

The Early Black Architects of Baltimore
2021-01-29 13:00 - 13:30
Early Black Architects have been practicing in Baltimore and Maryland since at least 1901. This rare presentation will feature the Early Black Architects whom practiced prior to 1970 in Baltimore. Participants will discover the unique heritage of Early Black Architects whom helped shape Baltimore, influenced the early generation of Black Architects and established early Black architectural firms.
About the Presenter
Dale Glenwood Green is a Professor of Architecture and Lead Faculty for Historic Preservation at Morgan State University School of Architecture and Planning. He has been teaching and leading research on Black Architects since he developed the Black Architects seminar in 2010. He is also Partner in the architectural firm of Sulton Campbell Britt & Associates, PC founded in 1964 by pioneering Black Architects.

This program is hosted on Zoom. 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.
Virtual Histories are back in 2021! The Baltimore Architecture Foundation (BAF) and Baltimore Heritage present a series of 30 minute live virtual tours and presentations focusing on Baltimore architecture, preservation and history.
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.

The Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Project: A People's Archive (Virtual Lecture)
2021-02-05 13:00 - 13:30
Preserve the Baltimore Uprising began as a digital repository designed to preserve and make accessible original content captured and created by individual community members, grassroots organizations, and witnesses to the protests that followed the death of Freddie Gray on April 19, 2015. It is a people’s archive. For the people. By the people. Owned by all.
Public Historians strive to be both responsible and responsive. As scholars, we are responsible for upholding the highest standards of intellectual inquiry. As public servants, we are committed to responding to the needs, interests, and desires of our audiences and stakeholders. Sometimes it is difficult to balance these two demands. In this talk, Dr. Denise Meringolo, Professor and Director of Public History at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, describes the processes, values, and ethical considerations underlying the creation of Preserve the Baltimore Uprising, a crowd-sourced digital collection.

This program is hosted on Zoom. 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.
Virtual Histories are back in 2021! The Baltimore Architecture Foundation (BAF) and Baltimore Heritage present a series of 30 minute live virtual tours and presentations focusing on Baltimore architecture, preservation and history.
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.

Finding Eutaw Farm: The Herring Run Archaeology Project (Virtual Talk)
2021-02-12 13:00 - 13:30
Join us to learn about how Eutaw Farm was discovered and its role in Baltimore history!
Jason Shellenhamer and Lisa Kraus are the co-directors of the Herring Run Archaeology Project, a free public archaeology program in the City of Baltimore. Jason, Lisa and their team of volunteers have spent the last 6 years exploring the remains of Eutaw Farm, an 18th and 19th century estate located in modern Herring Run Park. The house at Eutaw Farm burned down in 1865, and vanished from memory, but it was never really gone. Join us to learn about how Eutaw Farm was discovered, the roles it played in Baltimore’s history, and the fascinating people who once called Eutaw home.
This program is hosted on Zoom. 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.
Virtual Histories are back in 2021! The Baltimore Architecture Foundation (BAF) and Baltimore Heritage present a series of 30 minute live virtual tours and presentations focusing on Baltimore architecture, preservation and history.
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.

Virtual Talk: Olmsted Brothers Vision for Wyman Park and the Stony Run Stream Valley
2021-02-19 13:00 - 13:30
The presentation will focus on the Olmsted vision and what remains today! Wyman Park and the Stony Run Stream Valley demonstrate the premier design work of the Olmsted Brothers from 1903 to 1947. The influential landscape architecture firm was established in 1898 by brothers John Charles Olmsted and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., sons of the eminent landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. The Municipal Art Society hired them to produce the City’s first comprehensive park system plan in 1904, the Development of Public Grounds for Greater Baltimore Report. The Wyman family had donated land for Johns Hopkins University in 1902 for use as a northern campus and that same year, the University gave the remainder of the land to the City of Baltimore to serve as a public park.
In the 1904 Report, the Olmsted Brothers identified Wyman Park, with its old beech trees and bold topography, as one of the finest single passages of scenery to be so near a large city and advocated for it to become a stream valley reserve and extended north and south Bookending the University to the southeast and fitting into the City grid is the intact Wyman Park Dell, a 16-acre public park noted for its steep enclosing slopes and a large, sweeping lower lawn, fully realized and conceived by the Olmsted Brothers. The presentation will focus on their vision and what remains today from Stony Run’s headwaters at the city’s northern border to where the stream joins the Jones Falls River to the south.
In addition to the Baltimore Architecture Foundation (BAF) and Baltimore Heritage, Inc., this Virtual History is co-sponsored by the Friends of Maryland’s Olmsted Parks & Landscapes (FMOPL) and the Maryland Society of Landscape Architects.

Presenters’ Bios:
Since 1986, Sandy Sparks, founding president of the FMOPL, is strongly committed to the non-profit organization’s involvement in streetscape, park system and watershed planning, in addition to its significant archive of Olmsted drawings. Since the 1990s, Sandy has served as the designer/editor of The Olmstedian monograph series focused on Olmsted designs in the Baltimore region. A strong believer in the value of stakeholder-based parks friends groups, Sandy launched the Friends of Wyman Park Dell (1983), Friends of Mt. Vernon Place (2000) and Friends of Stony Run (2011). With support from the Central Baltimore Partnership, she led the launch of the Friends of the Jones Falls, becoming the group’s first President in 2019. A graduate of the University of Illinois (BFA) and Maryland Institute of Art (MFA), Sandy remains an active leader in Charles Village, where she has lived since 1966 and continues to design/edit The Charles Villager.
Jillian Storms, AIA, is an architect in the School Facilities Branch of the Maryland State Department of Education. She once served on the Board of Directors and Inventory Committee of FMOPL. She is a former President of the BAF and now serves as co-chair of its research committee, the Dead Architects’ Society. She received BAF’s Roger Redden Award and Preservation Maryland’s George T. Harrison Volunteer Award in recognition of her extensive architectural research and public programming and has already graced us with a couple of Virtual Histories focused on that research.

About this Event

This program is hosted on Zoom. 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.
Virtual Histories are back in 2021! The Baltimore Architecture Foundation (BAF) and Baltimore Heritage present a series of 30 minute live virtual tours and presentations focusing on Baltimore architecture, preservation and history.
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. A portion of donations will also go to Friends of Maryland’s Olmsted Parks & Landscapes (FMOPL).

Design for Distancing: Reopening Baltimore Together (Virtual Talk)
2021-02-26 13:00 - 13:30
Learn how local designers are working to make public spaces safer during the pandemic!
Hear from three local design teams – Envirocollab, Graham Projects and Living Design Lab – who are working to adapt public spaces for COVID-19 and how Baltimore’s Design for Distancing program can serve as a model for other cities. This program is presented in partnership with Neighborhood Design Center, AIA Baltimore/Baltimore Architecture Foundation, the Maryland Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (MD ASLA) and the Baltimore Museum of Industry.
Design for Distancing is a program of the City of Baltimore, Office of the Mayor and the Baltimore Development Corporation, in partnership with local nonprofit the Neighborhood Design Center. Developed in the summer of 2020 in response to COVID-19 and the challenges faced by local businesses, the Design for Distancing program called on Baltimore’s world class design and public health communities to develop innovative approaches to safe, physically distant gathering.

About this Event

This program is hosted on Zoom. 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 to all Virtual Histories are donation based. Your support helps us make up for lost tour and program revenue from COVID-19 and create more virtual programs like this. Donations from this program will also be split with Baltimore Heritage and the Baltimore Museum of Industry.

Virtual Talk: History of the Edgar Allan Poe House
2021-03-05 13:00 - 13:30
Director Enrica Jang will provide a brief history of this important site and its significance to Edgar Allan Poe’s life.
The remnant of a N. Amity Street duplex built in 1830’s is the last surviving home in the city of Baltimore where Edgar Allan Poe lived with his family. The house is a National Historic Landmark and a United for Libraries Literary Landmark, the first designated as such in the State of Maryland. The house, now a popular museum, is open to visitors and operates within the bounds of one of the oldest public housing projects in the United States. House museum Director, Enrica Jang, will provide a brief history of this important site, including the significance of the house to Edgar Allan Poe’s history. She will share how Poe House survived development in the early part of the 20th century and discuss the future of Poe House as further development continues in the modern day.

This program is hosted on Zoom. 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 to all Virtual Histories are donation based. Your support helps us make up for lost tour and program revenue from COVID-19 and create more virtual programs like this.

We Are Living in a Materials World: Examining How Building Materials Age (Virtual Talk)
2021-03-12 13:00 - 13:30
Visualizing the future of an urban environment through a discussion of how building materials age!
The choices we make in building materials determine the lifespan and efficacy of any building, outdoor sculpture, or monument. Taking a look through some case studies of some of the most well known landmarked monuments, sculptures and buildings in NYC, DC and Baltimore; we can see how materials have changed, and what steps we can take to respect, conserve and maintain metals and masonry. Case Studies include Baltimore City Hall, the Roland Water Tower, the U.S. Capitol Building, and Louise Nevelson’s monumental sculpture Night Presence IV in NYC.
Involved in the international conservation community for over 20 years, Christine specializes in the conservation of architectural building materials and outdoor sculpture. She received a MS in Historic Preservation from the School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation at Columbia University, and worked with City of New York for fourteen years as a conservator for their collection of historic houses, outdoor sculpture and monuments.
Christine relocated to Baltimore in 2016 and is currently the Conservator for the City of Baltimore overseeing the exterior restoration of City Hall and ongoing preservation projects throughout the city. She continues to serve as a consultant and research associate with the Monument Conservation Collaborative based in North Adams, Massachusetts.

About this Event

This program is hosted on Zoom. 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 to all Virtual Histories are donation based. Your support helps us make up for lost tour and program revenue from COVID-19 and create more virtual programs like this. Donations will be split between BAF and Baltimore Heritage.

Mermaids & Promenades: Schaefer and the Cultural Redevelopment of Baltimore (Virtual Talk)
2021-03-19 13:00 - 13:30
Mary Rizzo will examine forgotten moments from Schaefer’s terms as mayor.
In the 1970s, Mayor William Donald Schaefer used arts and culture to sell a new image of Baltimore as quirky and charming to both tourists and business leaders. In this talk, Mary Rizzo will examine forgotten moments from Schaefer’s terms as mayor, from the creation of a failed local version of the Oscars, called “The Don” awards to honor Baltimore’s film business, to the Baltimore Promenade, a public art project designed to integrate city neighborhoods through the act of walking. While Schaefer is remembered for large-scale projects like Harborplace and stunts like posing with a mermaid for the opening of the Baltimore aquarium, his legacy should include his reimagining city government to include arts and culture–for good and ill.
Presenter Bio:
Mary Rizzo is Assistant Professor of History at Rutgers University-Newark. She works at the intersection of inclusive public history, digital humanities, urban studies, and 20th century U.S. cultural history. She is the author of Come and Be Shocked: Baltimore Beyond John Waters and The Wire (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2020) and Class Acts: Young Men and the Rise of Lifestyle (University of Nevada Press). She is the founder of the Chicory Revitalization Project, which uses the black community poetry magazine Chicory to spur dialogue on place and identity. Follow it on Instagram @Chicory_Baltimore. She tweets as @rizzo_pubhist.

This program is hosted on Zoom. 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.
Virtual Histories are back in 2021! The Baltimore Architecture Foundation (BAF) and Baltimore Heritage present a series of 30 minute live virtual tours and presentations focusing on Baltimore architecture, preservation and history.
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.

Trailblazing Architect: Kathleen Sherrill (Virtual Talk)
2021-03-26 13:00 - 13:30
To cap off Women’s History Month, we are highlighting trailblazers who rose to leadership in the community and the profession.
As part of the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Baltimore Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), we are hosting conversations with trailblazing architects in Baltimore, discussing their impact on the profession and our communities. To cap off Women’s History Month, we are featuring Kathleen P. S. Sherrill, AIA, NOMA, NCARB, LEED AP, the first (and only) African American to serve as president of AIA Baltimore in 2012 and AIA Maryland in 2016. Kathleen founded the AIA Baltimore’s Women in Architecture Committee in 2012 (now EQUITY Committee) who are co-hosting this event.
Kathleen will highlight her work along the Pennsylvania Avenue corridor, Maryland’s only designated Black Arts and Entertainment District, as well as touch on several other projects in different areas of Baltimore, including Edmondson Village, Hampden, Upton and Reservoir Hill. In highlighting these projects, she will call on the needed leadership development of the professional community. She firmly believes that architects should challenge themselves to play a key role in improving and supporting Baltimore’s underserved neighborhoods. Guiding communities to invest in themselves and the next generation through ownership. Raising awareness of what a community can become through revitalization, not gentrification. Helping residents discover “pride of place” in where they identified as home. It’s critical to the survival of these communities and our city.
Kathleen founded her firm of SP Arch Inc. in 2005 with former partner Mahendra Parekh (who retired in 2008). It offers a broad array of planning, architectural design, and landscape architecture services. In 2011, Kathleen was awarded both Top 100 Minority Business Enterprises in the Mid-Atlantic Region and outstanding alumni by the School of Architecture and Planning at Morgan State University (MSU). She has served as a guest lecturer at MSU and as an adjunct professor teaching Management, Practice, and Law. In 2017, Kathleen helped establish the local chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) and served as its first president. She enjoys mentoring aspiring architects through her office and leadership roles. www.spa-corp.com
Introducing Kathleen Sherrill is Jillian Storms, AIA, who co-chaired the Women in Architecture Committee with her and went on to lead the Early Women of Architecture in Maryland project, culminating in a traveling exhibit and extensive programming for which she received BAF’s Roger Redden Award and Preservation Maryland’s Volunteer Award. She currently serves as co-chair of BAF’s research committee, the Dead Architects Society, and continues to highlight the stories of women’s achievements in the design profession.

This program is hosted on Zoom. 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.
Virtual Histories are back in 2021! The Baltimore Architecture Foundation (BAF) and Baltimore Heritage present a series of 30 minute live virtual tours and presentations focusing on Baltimore architecture, preservation and history.
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 presentation is also co-hosted by the AIA Baltimore EQUITY Committee and the Maryland Chapter of ASLA.

Trailblazing Architect: Barbara Wilks (Virtual Talk)
2021-04-02 13:00 - 13:30
To cap off Women’s History Month, we are highlighting trailblazers who rose to leadership in the community and the profession.
As part of the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Baltimore Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), we are hosting conversations with trailblazing architects who have impacted Baltimore’s built environment and rose to leadership positions in their profession. April 2nd’s Virtual History will feature Barbara Wilks, FAIA, FASLA, one of the few professionals elected to both the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects (in 1999) and to the College of Fellows of the American Society of Landscape Architects (in 2010), the highest honor in those professions. During her residence in Baltimore, she rose to become the first woman president of the AIA Baltimore Chapter, serving for two years from 1983-1984.
Barbara Wilks, FAIA, FASLA, is a leader in design and interdisciplinary thinking, with over 40 years of experience in urban design, public, and institutional projects. After graduating from Cornell University, she settled in Baltimore, attracted by the city’s efforts at renewal in the mid-seventies. In 1974, she founded Cho/Wilks Architects with Diane Cho and directed such noteworthy projects as Canton Cove, Brown’s Arcade, the Eubie Blake Jazz Museum, Goucher’s Dance Studio, and the Light Rail Stations, among many others.
After receiving a Masters of Landscape Architecture from University of Pennsylvania in 1993, she founded W Architecture and Landscape Architecture, a design-oriented, multidisciplinary practice in New York in 1999. Her projects range from urban public spaces, infrastructure, architecture, to parks, with her goal being to use design to create access and a means of participation — a public route to discovery, engagement and stewardship. Her award-winning public waterfronts can be found in Baltimore (Tide Point), Calgary, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Buffalo, and New York. https://w-architecture.com
She will discuss the development of her early waterfront work in Baltimore’s harbor and how that grew into her focus today, addressing places where city and nature come together and form new relationships, and how well-designed places can result in more sustainable relationships between ourselves, our communities, and the earth.
Introducing Barbara Wilks is Jillian Storms, AIA, who once worked with Barbara for over a decade at Cho Wilks & Benn Architects (now Quinn Evans Architects). She more recently led the Early Women of Architecture in Maryland project, culminating in a traveling exhibit and extensive programming for which she received BAF’s Roger Redden Award and Preservation Maryland’s Volunteer Award. She currently serves as co-chair of BAF’s research committee, the Dead Architects Society, and continues to highlight the stories of women’s achievements in the design profession.

About this Event:

This program is hosted on Zoom. 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.
Virtual Histories are back in 2021! The Baltimore Architecture Foundation (BAF) and Baltimore Heritage present a series of 30 minute live virtual tours and presentations focusing on Baltimore architecture, preservation and history.
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 presentation is also co-hosted by the AIA Baltimore EQUITY Committee and the Maryland Chapter of ASLA.

The Invention of Downtown: A Virtual Talk by Charlie Duff
2021-04-09 13:00 - 13:30
How did Downtown as we know it come to be? Charlie Duff explains using London and Baltimore as examples.
In 1666, the Great Fire of London destroyed the center of a city of 500,000 people and made 80,000 people homeless.
In 1904, the Great Baltimore Fire destroyed the center of a city of 500,000 people, and not one person became homeless.
In between those two dates, the North Atlantic cities invented the Central Business District. From Baltimore to London, the centers of cities became places where tens of thousands of people worked and no one lived.
Join Charlie Duff, author of The North Atlantic Cities, to find out how this happened and what the architectural results were – and why it didn’t happen in Paris, Rome, and the other great cities of Continental Europe.

This program is hosted on Zoom. 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.
The Baltimore Architecture Foundation (BAF) and Baltimore Heritage present a series of 30 minute live virtual tours and presentations focusing on Baltimore architecture, preservation and history.
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.

Patterson Park - The Jewel of Baltimore's Eastside (Virtual Talk)
2021-04-16 13:00 - 13:30
This presentation will cover the park’s history and the Olmsted vision for the site!
Patterson Park is an urban oasis – a beloved green space surrounded by brick rowhouses, diverse cultures and neighborhoods. Generations of Baltimoreans have picnicked under its tall tulip poplars, strolled the deeply curved paths and enjoyed the rich architectural design of this 137-acre East Baltimore park.
This presentation will touch on the park’s history, from its earliest beginnings as a 6-acre “Public Walk” donated to the city by William Patterson in April 1827, to its growth and development under the guiding hands of George A. Frederick, designer of City Hall, who served as Park Architect from 1863 to 1895, and of Charles H. Latrobe, who served as Engineer and General Superintendent of Parks from 1884 to 1902. Both were responsible for such impressive structures as the iconic Patterson Park Observatory, a 60-foot tall tower built at top Hampstead Hill for its incredible views of the harbor and the city.
In 1904, the Olmsted Brothers Landscape Architects were hired to prepare a plan for the Eastern extension of the park. Their 1904 “Report Upon the Development of Public Grounds for Greater Baltimore” had urged for an expansion of the park to “offer the working people of East Baltimore a conveniently accessible body of refreshing scenery, retired to a great degree from the turmoil of the city.” The firm, founded by Frederick Law Olmsted, designer of Central Park, and continued by his sons, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. and John Charles, were the leading park architects of the day and continued to enhance the park’s design through 1915.
In Patterson Park, one can see the two sides of the Olmsted vision: the pastoral vistas and sweeping hills championed by the senior Olmsted and carried on by his sons, as well as the recognition by the younger Olmsteds of the features required by the active recreation movement of the period. The role of Patterson Park in creating social cohesiveness and quality of life is still paramount, nearly two centuries from its humble beginnings. This presentation will feature fascinating insights and rich historical imagery of this Jewel of Baltimore’s Eastside.
Presenter
Tim Almaguer has been hiking through, learning from and working with urban parks for over 20 years, first with the Friends of Patterson Park for over 10 years and now as the Chief of Community Engagement and Strategic Partnership at Baltimore City Recreation and Parks. Tim received a Master degree in Recreation and Parks Management from Frostburg State University and wrote “Baltimore’s Patterson Park” in 2006, published by Arcadia Publishing.

About this Event

In this Virtual Histories Series, the Baltimore Architecture Foundation (BAF) and Baltimore Heritage host weekly 30-minute lunchtime presentations on Zoom focusing on Baltimore architecture, preservation, and history. Attendees have the opportunity to ask questions of the presenter(s). Upon registering, you will receive an email confirmation and a Zoom link. If you do not receive a link, please contact ndennies@aiabalt.com at least 1-hour prior to the start of the program, or admittance cannot be guaranteed.
This presentation is also co-hosted by the Maryland Chapter of American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) and the Friends of Maryland’s Olmsted Parks & Landscapes (FMOPL) as part of Olmsted 200 celebration of the Bicentennial of Frederick Law Olmsted Sr’s birth. Reservations are donation-based. Please give what you can to support BAF, Baltimore Heritage, and FMOPL. Your support helps ALL three non-profit organizations make up for lost tour and program revenue from COVID-19 and create future programs of interest.

Trailblazing Architects: Leon Bridges (Virtual Talk)
2021-04-23 13:00 - 13:30
Join us for a conversation with trailblazing architect Leon Bridges, FAIA!
As part of the celebration of AIA Baltimore’s 150th anniversary, we are hosting conversations with trailblazing architects in Baltimore, discussing their impact on the profession and our communities.
Leon Bridges, FAIA, NOMA, is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, and a Past Vice President of the organization. Since entering the architecture profession as a draftsman in 1956, Bridges has won 20 national, regional and local awards for design excellence including the restoration of Baltimore’s Penn Station and Baltimore City College. Bridges is also a Past President of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA). Bridges semi-retired from active practice in 2005 to become an Assistant Professor in the Morgan State University School of Architecture and Planning. His major interest is in preparing African American students for the practice of architecture.
Moderating the conversation is Melanie Ray, AIA, NOMA, a board member of AIA Baltimore and Bmore NOMA. She is an architect at Hord Coplan Macht, and is active in the design community and various neighborhoods of the city, including as a volunteer with the Neighborhood Design Center.

About this Event:

This program is hosted on Zoom. 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.
Virtual Histories are back in 2021! The Baltimore Architecture Foundation (BAF) and Baltimore Heritage present a series of 30 minute live virtual tours and presentations focusing on Baltimore architecture, preservation and history.
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.

Virtual Tour of the Cloisters
2021-04-30 13:00 - 13:30
Join us for an on location virtual tour of the Cloisters, Baltimore’s slice of medieval Europe!

Settled high on a hill in Lutherville among 60 acres of secluded woods, The Cloisters reflects the beauty and grandeur of medieval Europe, with delicately carved wood, exquisitely detailed stained glass, and ornately designed wrought iron.
Sumner and Dudrea Parker designed the castle to highlight their extensive collection of medieval artwork and artifacts. Today, the Cloisters is managed by BOPA and its unforgettable setting is used for special events like weddings, parties, and business receptions.
About this Event

This program is hosted on Zoom. 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.
The Baltimore Architecture Foundation (BAF) and Baltimore Heritage present the Virtual Histories Series: 30 minute live virtual tours and presentations focusing on Baltimore architecture, preservation and history. Hosted every Friday at 1:00 pm EST.
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.

The Robert F. Kennedy Funeral Train: The People’s View from Baltimore (Virtual Lecture)
2021-05-07 13:00 - 13:30
Rein Jelle Terpstra will discuss his project to collect photographs of Kennedy’s funeral train passing through Baltimore.
On June 8 1968, the Robert F Kennedy Funeral Train rode through Baltimore, on its way to Washington D.C., carrying the body of Senator Robert F Kennedy. On board the train was photographer Paul Fusco, who during the journey photographed the many bewildered mourners paying their final respects. A cross-section of American society—Black and White, city-dwellers and country folk—all stared at the slowly passing train.
We hope you’ll join us to hear photographer Rein Jelle Terpstra talk about his project to search for the reverse photographic perspective: pictures and films made by the bystanders that stood along the railroad that day. Here, the mourners do not merely play a role in someone else’s pictures, but are the photographers and filmmakers themselves. With their cameras, they gazed back at the train and recorded it in their own fashion. On his research trips, Terpstra visited almost all of the places that the funeral train passed through in an effort to track down people who took photographs of the train passing. This project is entirely based on memories, snapshots, home movies, and sound, recorded by bystanders standing along the tracks that day.
The project was on show at the Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, in Les Rencontres D’Arles (France 2018), the International Center of Photography (New York City 2018) and the Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam (2019).

About the Speaker
Rein Jelle Terpstra teaches fine arts and photography at Minerva Art Academy, Groningen (NL). After a residency at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten (Amsterdam), he began investigating the relationships between perception, memory and history by making slideshow installations and books. His work is held in various collections, including the collection of the SFMOMA (San Francisco), MoMA Library (New York), EYE Film Museum (Amsterdam), Nederlands Fotomuseum (Rotterdam), The Royal Museum of Arts (Brussels), Yale University Library (New Haven), and the Getty Research Institute (Los Angeles). During the spring of 2017, Terpstra undertook a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship in Washington, D.C. to work on the subject of this lecture.

About this Event

This program is hosted on Zoom. 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.
The Baltimore Architecture Foundation (BAF) and Baltimore Heritage present the Virtual Histories Series: 30 minute live virtual tours and presentations focusing on Baltimore architecture, preservation and history. Hosted every Friday at 1:00 pm EST.
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.

Designing the AVAM – Winner of Baltimore Architecture Madness
2021-05-21 13:00 - 13:30
AVAM Founder and Director Rebecca Hoffberger, and architects Rebecca Swanston and Diane Cho celebrate the design of this Baltimore treasure!
The American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM) was crowned winner of BAF’s Architecture Madness Tournament, which included 64 exceptional Baltimore buildings built between 1870 and today, hosted in celebration of AIA Baltimore’s 150th anniversary.We’ll be joined by AVAM founder and director Rebecca Hoffberger and architects Diane Cho and Rebecca Swanston to celebrate and reflect upon the design of Baltimore’s most beloved building of the past 150 years.

Completed in 1995, AVAM is a brilliant example of sculptural expression. Architect Rebecca Swanston, FAIA and designer Alex Castro incorporated the curving Trolley Works building and enlarged it with an addition that echoes its curves and creates a strong sense of motion. Its playful, eye-catching facade, created by youth in the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services as a way to provide them with tangible skills and personal development, was an echoing sentiment from Rebecca Alban Hoffberger, Founder/Director and Primary Curator of AVAM that “social justice is life’s highest performance art”. The shimmering and whimsy exterior mirrors the artworks found inside by self-taught individuals that make AVAM one of the city’s most beloved institutions. Architect Diane Cho, AIA of Cho Benn Holback + Associates (today Quinn Evans) led the 2004 expansion of the museum transforming an old whiskey barrel warehouse into AVAM’s Jim Rouse Visionary Center. Both projects are stellar examples of adaptive use – the creative repurposing of historic buildings.
When asked to describe why they voted the way they did, Architecture Madness voters emphasized how AVAM’s architecture embodies the museum’s spirit. As one voter put it, “It feels alive. It feels like a building that embraces all people and inspires creativity and a sense of wonder.”
About this Event

This program is hosted on Zoom. 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.
The Baltimore Architecture Foundation (BAF) and Baltimore Heritage present the Virtual Histories Series: 30 minute live virtual tours and presentations focusing on Baltimore architecture, preservation and history. Hosted every Friday at 1:00 pm EST. This special program is hosted in partnership with the American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM). Follow them on Facebook and Twitter: @theavam and Instagram: @the_avam.
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.

Morgan State University: National Treasure and Model for Preservation (Virtual Talk)
2021-05-28 13:00 - 13:30
On its five-year anniversary as a designated National Treasure, we will hear about the University’s stewardship of its historic buildings.
In May 2016, the nation’s leading preservation organization, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, designated Morgan State University a National Treasure. The designation served to recognize the University’s significance as an HBCU (Historically Black College and University) and as a compelling example of the challenges that colleges across the country face in stewarding their historic buildings while redeveloping their historic campuses.
Founded in 1867 as one of the nation’s earliest institutions to offer post-secondary education for African Americans and the largest in the state of Maryland, Morgan State University’s urban campus has an impressive collection of historic buildings. The University’s varied built landscape features 20 contributing structures—ranging from Classical and Italianate to Modern and Brutalist—eligible for listing on the National Register. Buildings on the campus were designed by pioneering and celebrated black architects such as Albert Cassell, Hilyard Robinson, Louis Fry, and Leon Bridges. In addition, the University is home to one of six HBCU accredited architecture programs and the only one accredited in historic preservation.
In its effort towards preserving the rich cultural legacy of HBCUs, the National Trust joined forces with the University to envision a forward-thinking stewardship strategy for preserving HBCU campuses. The partnership aimed at developing a campus heritage preservation plan for Morgan State University – a critical tool to inform campus master planning – that could be applied at other HBCUs across the country.
On its five-year anniversary as a designated National Treasure, we will hear about the University’s progress to create a preservation roadmap that stewards the many historic buildings on campus, while planning wisely for the university’s long-term, sustainable future.
About the Presenter:
Dale Glenwood Green is a descendant of Reverend Samuel Green, Sr. (a Visionary Founder of Morgan State University), Morgan Alumnus (a inaugural student of the Morgan undergraduate architecture program), and Professor of Architecture and Lead Faculty for Historic Preservation at Morgan State University School of Architecture and Planning. He has been teaching and leading research on Morgan’s campus heritage since he joined the faculty in 2008. He along with his faculty colleagues and students have collaborated with the University and the National Trust for Historic Preservation on preserving the campus and individually listing the University Memorial Chapel on the National Register of Historic Places. He has been leading the Preservation in Practice summer program with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, National Parks Service and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

About this Event

In this Virtual Histories Series, the Baltimore Architecture Foundation (BAF) and Baltimore Heritage host weekly 30-minute lunchtime live presentations on Zoom focusing on Baltimore architecture, preservation, and history. Upon registering, you will receive an email confirmation and a Zoom link. If you do not receive a link, please contact ndennies@aiabalt.com at least 1-hour prior to the start of the program or cannot guarantee admittance.
Reservations 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 presentation is also co-hosted by Morgan State University and the Baltimore Chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects.

George Peabody Library: The Cathedral of Books (Virtual Talk)
2021-06-04 13:00 - 13:30
Peabody Library Curator Paul Espinosa discusses the design and history of the Peabody Library, one of the world’s most beautiful libraries!
The George Peabody Library made it to the semifinals of BAF’s Architecture Madness tournament, which included 64 exceptional Baltimore buildings built between 1870 and today, hosted in celebration of AIA Baltimore’s 150th anniversary. We’ll explore what makes this Library one of the most beautiful in the world.
Built in 1878, the iconic George Peabody Library was designed by architect Edmund G. Lind in collaboration with the first provost, Dr. Nathaniel H. Morison. Renowned for its striking architectural interior, the Peabody Stack Room contains five tiers of ornamental cast-iron balconies that rise dramatically towards the skylight. Begun in 1860, the library collection now contains more than 300,000 volumes, largely from the 18th and 19th centuries. It is consistently ranked among the world’s most beautiful libraries.
We’ll be joined by Paul Espinosa, Curator of the George Peabody Library.

About this Event

This program is hosted on Zoom. 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.
The Baltimore Architecture Foundation (BAF) and Baltimore Heritage present the Virtual Histories Series: 30 minute live virtual tours and presentations focusing on Baltimore architecture, preservation and history. Hosted every Friday at 1:00 pm EST. This special program is hosted in partnership with the George Peabody Library.
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.

Camden Yards: Greatest Ballpark in America (Virtual Talk)
2021-06-11 13:00 - 13:30
Oriole Park at Camden Yards consistently ranks among the top ballparks in the world, and has had a profound influence on ballpark design since it opened in 1992. The design broke away from the idea that stadiums should be on the outskirts of cities surrounded by massive parking lots. Instead, Camden Yards was placed near the heart of Downtown and designed to complement its historic surroundings and incorporates the site of Camden Station with the 1905 B&O Warehouse. Camden Yards ushered in the trend for retro ballpark design and demonstrated that the best stadiums are those that are integrated into the urban fabric of the city.
Camden Yards made it to the semifinals of BAF’s Architecture Madness tournament, which included 64 exceptional Baltimore buildings built between 1870 and today, hosted in celebration of AIA Baltimore’s 150th anniversary. We’ll explore what makes Camden Yards one of the top ballparks in the world.

About the Speaker:
Janet Marie Smith is best known in baseball for her work on Oriole Park at Camden Yards, which set the standard for a new wave of ballparks after its opening in 1992. Smith worked for the Orioles from 1989-94 as vice president of planning and development during the design and construction of the park. She later re-joined the club from 2009-12 to direct renovations and expansion of the Orioles’ spring training facility in Sarasota, FL., and upgrades to Camden Yards.From 2002-2009, Smith served as senior vice president of planning and development for the Boston Red Sox, overseeing the preservation and expansion of Fenway Park. Smith was president of Turner Sports and Entertainment Development and vice president of planning and development for the Atlanta Braves from 1994-2000, when she helped transform the 1996 Olympic Stadium into Turner Field and she oversaw the development of the Philips Arena, then home to the NBA Hawks and NHL Thrashers.
About this Event:

This program is hosted on Zoom. 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.
The Baltimore Architecture Foundation (BAF) and Baltimore Heritage present the Virtual Histories Series: 30 minute live virtual tours and presentations focusing on Baltimore architecture, preservation and history. Hosted every Friday at 1:00 pm EST. This special program is hosted in partnership with the George Peabody Library.
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.

The Underground Railroad in Baltimore County (Virtual Talk)
2021-06-18 13:00 - 13:30
Postponed: Please check back–thank you!

Historian Louis Diggs will discuss Underground Railroad sites in Baltimore County.
In observance of Juneteenth, historian and write Louis Diggs will tell the story of the journey to freedom through Baltimore County revealing sites in the area that were part of the Underground Railroad.
Louis Diggs is a chronicler of African American history specializing in Baltimore County. His work illuminates the historic past of its Black communities. He is the author of ten books focusing on African American history in the Baltimore region. Diggs was honored by the State of Maryland for his contributions in preserving the history of Maryland’s Black communities. Diggs led the effort to restore the Cherry Hill African Union Methodist Protestant Church in Granite, Maryland and convert it to the Diggs/Johnson Mini-Museum on African American History.
About this event:

This program is hosted on Zoom. 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.
The Baltimore Architecture Foundation (BAF) and Baltimore Heritage present the Virtual Histories Series: 30 minute live virtual tours and presentations focusing on Baltimore architecture, preservation and history. Hosted every Friday at 1:00 pm EST. This special program is hosted in partnership with the George Peabody Library.
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.

The History and Award Winning Renovation of the Pratt Central Library (Virtual Talk)
2021-06-25 13:00 - 13:30
Sandra Vicchio and Jillian Storms discuss the design of the Pratt Central Library, one of Baltimore’s most beloved buildings.
The Pratt Central Library achieved second place in BAF’s Architecture Madness tournament of Baltimore’s best buildings built between 1870 and today and hosted in celebration of AIA Baltimore’s 150th anniversary. In today’s Virtual History, we’ll explore what makes this library so special and how it served as a national model for libraries that followed.
In 1882, Enoch Pratt gave a whopping $1 million gift to Baltimore City to launch the nation’s first free library system, proclaiming, “My library shall be for all, rich and poor without distinction of race or color…” This welcoming vision was echoed in the 1929 design of the system’s new central branch, starting with its street-level main entrance on Cathedral Street, going against the grain of architectural design for grand civic institutions at the time. Architect Clyde N. Friz hoped to give the library “a dignity characterized by friendliness rather than aloofness” avoiding the old-fashioned institutional character of past libraries. When Baltimore’s Central Library opened on Cathedral Street in 1933, it displayed its featured content in large bay windows along its street facade enticing all to enter, much like department stores on nearby Howard Street.
Today, the Central Library serves more than half a million people a year and recently received a $115 million, three-year renovation. Its exterior and interiors were gorgeously restored and fully transformed for the digital age with up-to-date systems and technology masterfully integrated into the historic fabric. Dropped ceilings were removed to reveal fabulous stenciling, decorative molding damaged in prior renovations was restored by artisans, and historically appropriate new lighting was installed to make the rooms feel light and airy. The results are stunning.
Come join us as we hear from our two presenters about this award-winning library, inviting and comfortable for all who enter, and one that will fill you with civic pride. Gordon Krabbe, Chief Operating Officer of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, will be introducing our presenters.
About the Presenters:
Jillian Storms, AIA, has done extensive architectural research on numerous architects who practiced in Maryland, including Clyde N. Friz, AIA, who holds the first architectural licence issued by the State of Maryland. She is a former President of the BAF and now serves as co-chair of its research committee, the Dead Architects’ Society. She serves as a capital programs manager at the School Facilities Branch of the Maryland State Department of Education.
Sandra Parsons Vicchio, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, is founding principal of Sandra Vicchio & Associates, LLC, with more than 30 years of experience in programming, planning, architecture, and design. Her portfolio includes historic preservation, renovation, and new construction encompassing laboratory, office, academic, administrative, visitor center, library, and museum spaces. She co-authored the 2015 book The Living Library: An Intellectual Ecosystem and served as consulting architect on the Pratt Central Library renovation project team, along with lead architects, Beyer Blinder Belle, and managing architects, Ayers Saint Gross.

About this event

This program is hosted on Zoom. 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.
The Baltimore Architecture Foundation (BAF) and Baltimore Heritage present the Virtual Histories Series: 30 minute live virtual tours and presentations focusing on Baltimore architecture, preservation and history. Hosted every Friday at 1:00 pm EST. This special program is hosted in partnership with the George Peabody Library.
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.

Designs on Victory: Olmsted-Inspired Garden City Plans for Historic Dundalk (Virtual Talk)
2021-07-09 13:00 - 13:30
Amy Menzer discusses the design and development of WWI Era Historic Dundalk!
The Bethlehem Steel Mill at Sparrows Point launched an effort to create a Garden City-style town in 1917 just before the US entered WWI. At the same time, the Federal Government began housing production for war workers. Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. (FLO Jr.) headed the Town Planning division of the new United States Housing Corporation. Several colleagues in the nascent profession of city planning who had worked with FLO Jr. on Roland Park and Forest Hills Gardens were all directly involved in designing Dundalk, including Baltimore architect Edward Palmer, Roland Park Company leader Edward Bouton, and architects Grosvenor Atterbury and Charles Wellford Leavitt. Their plans were inspired by their designs for more affluent areas, including curvilinear streets, separation of uses, green spaces, and restrictive covenants. We will explore how these plans created a new community for workers and managers, but was segregated by race.
Presenters
Amy E. Menzer is executive director of Dundalk Renaissance, a 20 year-old non-profit community development organization, and is deeply interested in planning history and neighborhood change. She also serves as a Board member of the Friends of Maryland’s Olmsted Parks and Landscapes. She previously worked for Citizens Planning and Housing Association on housing and transportation advocacy, and has served as President of the Community Development Network of Maryland, NeighborSpace Baltimore County, the Patterson Park Neighborhood Association, and the Transit Riders League of Metropolitan Baltimore. She holds a Ph.D in Human Geography from Johns Hopkins University.
Joining this presentation is Meg Fairfax Fielding, past president of BAF, and member of BAF’s Dead Architects’ Society. By day, Meg is the head of the History of Maryland Medicine at MedChi, which was founded in 1799, but on weekends, loves to explore Baltimore and the surrounding areas and take deep dives into the historical contributing architects, such as Palmer & Lamdin. Follow her on Instagram at PigtownDesign.

About this event

This program is hosted on Zoom. 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.
The Baltimore Architecture Foundation (BAF) and Baltimore Heritage present the Virtual Histories Series: 30 minute live virtual tours and presentations focusing on Baltimore architecture, preservation and history. Hosted every Friday at 1:00 pm EST. This special program is co-hosted by the Maryland Chapter of American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) and the Friends of Maryland’s Olmsted Parks & Landscapes (FMOPL) as part of Olmsted 200 celebration of the Bicentennial of Frederick Law Olmsted Sr’s birth.
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.
