Bmore Historic is a participant-led unconference at the Baltimore Museum of Industry for scholars, students, professionals and volunteers who care about public history, historic preservation and cultural heritage in the Baltimore region. Bmore Historic is organized by Baltimore Heritage and a team of volunteers. Bmore Historic 2021 will be in-person with the availability to go virtual if needed.
Alger Hiss, a native Baltimorean, was a government official accused of spying for the Soviet Union In one of the most spectacular Cold War era trials in the U.S., Hiss was convicted of perjury. Hiss's accuser was Whittaker Chambers, a confessed Communist Spy turned Conservative Republican.
Regardless of what conclusions the reader reaches from the mountain of evidence and the books that have been written about the Alger Hiss case, much of the narrative by Whittaker Chambers may have been composed in a modest house in Charles Village, 2610 St. Paul Street, a typical example of detached domestic architecture in Baltimore often overlooked by architectural historians.
After 30 years without a break, Baltimore historian Wayne Schaumburg is finally taking a year 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. Opened in 1839, Green Mount is an early example of an urban-rural cemetery, that is, a cemetery with a park-like setting located close to the countryside. 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!
For a tiny neighborhood squeezed between the University of Maryland and Camden Yards, Ridgely’s Delight contains an oversized history. George Washington slept here and Babe Ruth was born here! Join us to walk the preserved, picturesque streets of one of the earliest neighborhoods in Baltimore while we look back at the stories of both its famous visitors and the ordinary Baltimoreans who worked and raised their families here.
Phillip Lord joins us for a presentation on marble quarries in Cockeysville and the buildings in Baltimore and beyond that were made of stones quarried from these sites. Cockeysville Marble was a major source of marble in the United States, used in the construction of significant buildings in Baltimore and beyond including the Washington Monuments in Baltimore and Washington DC, Baltimore's City Hall, the United States Capitol Building, and the Fisher Building in Detroit.
Please join us for a walking tour of Turner Station, Dundalk, the last home of Henrietta Lacks. Don’t know who Henrietta Lacks was? Most of the world didn’t until about ten years ago. Lacks is best recognized for her immortal cells, which have transformed modern medicine. Yet, it took some twenty-five years before the Lacks family received any knowledge of the immortal contribution their beloved wife and mother was making to medical science. Join guide Servant Speed as we walk through Henrietta’s Turner Station community and learn about her incredible story.
Baltimoreans have celebrated atop Federal Hill when we ratified the U.S. Constitution, used it to defend the city in the War of 1812, and fortified it to make sure we stayed in the Union in the Civil War. We have even tunnelled under it to quarry minerals. Join Baltimore Heritage to learn about the rich history of this waterfront community, including stops at one of the last wooden houses in the city, the oldest house in the community, and the wonderful alley houses along Churchill Street.
In observance of International Underground Railroad Month, 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.
This year twelve artists from the Mid-Atlantic Plein Air Painters Association (MAPAPA) have been invited to paint some of Mount Vernon Place's beautiful interiors. The artists have each selected an interior--from the Walters Art Museum to the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion (among others) and are busy at work on their canvases. Their efforts will culminate in an online exhibition and auction. Follow the Facebook page to see some of their artwork in progress, and stay tuned to learn how to participate.
After 30 years without a break, Baltimore historian Wayne Schaumburg is finally taking a year 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. Opened in 1839, Green Mount is an early example of an urban-rural cemetery, that is, a cemetery with a park-like setting located close to the countryside. 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!
Baltimore Architecture Foundation and Baltimore Heritage kick off Doors Open Baltimore with Dr. Lawrence Brown, author of "The Black Butterfly: The Harmful Politics of Race and Space in America." Dr. Brown will put Baltimore under a microscope, looking at the causes of segregation and drawing on extensive research of data and policy. Brown will demonstrate how data visualization can be a tool to distribute resources to communities in need, and speak to the roles of design, planning, and preservation in healing and restoring redlined Black neighborhoods.
After 30 years without a break, Baltimore historian Wayne Schaumburg is finally taking a year 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. Opened in 1839, Green Mount is an early example of an urban-rural cemetery, that is, a cemetery with a park-like setting located close to the countryside. 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!
