Baltimore Heritage

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.

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.

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.

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.