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.
After 30 years without a break, Baltimore historian Wayne Schaumburg is finally taking a spring off and he has kindly shared his tour notes with us. Join Baltimore Heritage and tour guide Tim Fabiszak to tour Baltimore’s historic Green Mount Cemetery. Green Mount is the final resting place of some of Maryland’s most famous, and infamous, figures including Johns Hopkins, Enoch Pratt, William and Henry Walters, Mary Elizabeth Garrett, Betsy Patterson, A.S. Abell, John H. B. Latrobe, A. Aubrey Bodine, John Wilkes Booth, and Elijah Bond, who patented the Ouija Board!
Where can you find a piece of the Berlin Wall, a cannon ball mounted on a Conestoga wagon hitch, and over a hundred lions looking down at you from the tops of Baltimore's buildings? On our Downtown Landmarks and Lions tour, of course! In this leisurely stroll—we cover a little over a mile in a little over an hour—you’ll see and hear the highlights of downtown Baltimore’s history and architecture. Best of all, you'll discover where all the noble lions, hellish fiends, and neo-Egyptian sphinxes are hiding—the trick is in looking up! If you are Baltimore born-and-raised or a visitor from out-of-town, you don’t want to miss this walking tour!
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.
After 30 years without a break, Baltimore historian Wayne Schaumburg is finally taking a spring off and he has kindly shared his tour notes with us. Join Baltimore Heritage and tour guide Tim Fabiszak to tour Baltimore’s historic Green Mount Cemetery. Green Mount is the final resting place of some of Maryland’s most famous, and infamous, figures including Johns Hopkins, Enoch Pratt, William and Henry Walters, Mary Elizabeth Garrett, Betsy Patterson, A.S. Abell, John H. B. Latrobe, A. Aubrey Bodine, John Wilkes Booth, and Elijah Bond, who patented the Ouija Board!
Baltimoreans celebrated atop Federal Hill when we ratified the U.S. Constitution. We used it to defend the city from the British in the War of 1812 and to make sure we stayed in the Union in the Civil War. We have even tunnelled under it to quarry minerals. Join us on a tour of Federal Hill and the neighborhood around it to learn about this waterfront community’s rich history, including stops at one of the last wooden houses in the city, the oldest house in Federal Hill, and the wonderful alley houses along Churchill Street.
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.
Baltimore is kicking cars off of portions of Charles Street for a day, and we're taking advantage of it! On Saturday, May 22, only pedestrians and bicycles will be allowed on a good portion of Charles Street between Saratoga and North Avenue as part of the Charles Street Promenade. Join Baltimore Heritage’s Executive Director, Johns Hopkins, on a stroll down the middle of the street to get a perspective that we normally don't get--views of some of the city's most interesting historic buildings. We'll talk about 100 year-old statues that are a spitting image of Bill Clinton, a German spy ring during World War I, some of Baltimore's only nude statuary, and the lasting impact of the 1904 Fire... and that's before we even get past Saratoga!
Baltimore is kicking cars off of portions of Charles Street for a day, and we're taking advantage of it! On Saturday, May 22, only pedestrians and bicycles will be allowed on a good portion of Charles Street between Saratoga and North Avenue as part of the Charles Street Promenade. Join us on a tour to hear the stories behind the Washington Monument and see the landmarks of Baltimore’s grandest historic neighborhood. Mount Vernon began as a country estate for Revolutionary War hero John Eager Howard and grew to be the place to live for Baltimore’s rich and famous in the mid-nineteenth century. The Garrett family, owners of the B&O Railroad, the Walters, founders of the Walters Art Museum, and the Thomases, owners of Mercantile Bank, are among the families that built handsome mansions along the four parks that surround the Washington Monument.
On its five-year anniversary as a designated National Treasure, we will hear about the Morgan State 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.
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.
Where can you find a piece of the Berlin Wall, a cannon ball mounted on a Conestoga wagon hitch, and over a hundred lions looking down at you from the tops of Baltimore's buildings? On our Downtown Landmarks and Lions tour, of course! In this leisurely stroll—we cover a little over a mile in a little over an hour—you’ll see and hear the highlights of downtown Baltimore’s history and architecture. Best of all, you'll discover where all the noble lions, hellish fiends, and neo-Egyptian sphinxes are hiding—the trick is in looking up! If you are Baltimore born-and-raised or a visitor from out-of-town, you don’t want to miss this walking tour!
