Behind the Scenes Tour of the McDonogh School

Image courtesy the McDonogh School.

Join us for a tour of the 139-year-old McDonogh School.  We will be venturing into Baltimore County to see a campus that has its roots in Baltimore City and was originally intended to be located there.  The school’s archivist, Ms. MaryLu Greenwood, and Vice Principal, Mr. Larry Johnston, will lead us on a tour of the school and its classical architecture and share the story of how this one time farm school for indigent “boys of good character” became the venerable private co-ed school it is today.

Tour Details
8600 McDonogh Road, Owings Mills, MD 21117
Thursday, May 10, 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm
$15 members | $25 non-members (wine & cheese will be served)

RSVP for the tour today!

Image courtesy Wikipedia.

John McDonogh, a Baltimore-born merchant and philanthropist, was born in 1779 and died in 1850, bequeathing half of his estate to the City of Baltimore to educate children. However, since the public school system already existed in Baltimore, the mayor and city council used the funds to endow a “school farm” for poor boys of good character. Mr. McDonogh had envisioned such a school in his handwritten will dated 1838. In 1872, a tract of 835 acres—essentially the same land that comprises the campus today—was purchased for $85,000 for the school’s establishment.  McDonogh School was founded on November 21, 1873 with the arrival of twenty-one poor boys from Baltimore City. From the beginning, the boys followed a semi-military system, which provided leadership opportunities and ensured order.  Major milestones in McDonogh’s history signaled change. The first paying students arrived in 1922 and day students in 1927. The semi-military program was dropped in 1971, and the first female students enrolled in 1975.  Today, McDonogh is a non-denominational, college preparatory, co-educational day and boarding school. The school calls many accomplished athletes alumni.  They include tennis-pro and sports commentator Pam Shriver, Orioles pitcher Brian Erbe, and equestrian Olympic gold medalist Bruce Davidson.

Young Preservationist Happy Hour reads books in Mt. Vernon!

Baltimore Heritage is teaming up with Read That City — a new book club for The City That Reads dedicated to reading non-fiction, novels and more about Baltimore and by Baltimoreans — to organize our latest Young Preservationist Happy Hour! Join us next Friday evening in Mt. Vernon to celebrate a few of the new books (and local authors) that will be featured at the CityLit Festival on Saturday, April 14.

Young Preservationist Happy Hour

Friday, April 13, 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
The Brewer’s Art, 1106 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21201
RSVP today to join our e-mail list!

Pick up a copy of Wicked Baltimore: Charm City and Scandal to peek into the darker corners of Baltimore’s past or check out From Animal House to Our House: A Love Story for a story of the challenges and rewards of a DIY rowhouse rehab. We’ll be joined by both authors of these two new Baltimore books — Lauren Silberman and Ron Tanner — for a informal opportunity to drink and chat about books, buildings and history with fellow Baltimore preservationists (and book lovers)!

The Brewers Art is located in a classy historic building in the heart of Mt. Vernon right on the Charm City Circulator Purple Route. With their affordable happy hour specials and a great selection of house beers, Brewer’s Art gets very crowded early in the evening so please come out early. Don’t forget to RSVP and have a chance to win free Behind the Scenes tour tickets next Friday!

Behind the Scenes Tour: Animal House

Many of us have seen the 1978 movie “Animal House.”  Have you wondered what happened to the chapter house after the mischievous frat boys graduated?  Homeowners Ron Tanner and Jill Eicher can pick-up where the story leaves off.  They call Charles Village’s version of the infamous Animal House home.  Please join us for a tour of this beautifully restored house and hear Mr. Tanner and Ms. Eicher offer tips on managing large projects, including how to stay together even when your house is torn apart.

Tour Details

2746 St. Paul Street, Baltimore, MD 21218
Tuesday, April 3rd | 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
$15 members | $25 non-members (please join!)

RSVP for the tour today!

Ron Tanner and Jill Eicher have spent 12 years renovating an 1897 Queen Anne rowhouse that was condemned property when they bought it.  A notorious fraternity had all but destroyed the 4,500 square foot Charles Village house. The run-down rowhouse even found itself as the perfect setting for a horror film starring then unknown actresses Dana Delaney and Keri Russell.  Undaunted, Mr. Tanner and Ms. Eicher took on a whole-house restoration, beginning with emptying out multiple roll-off dumpsters of trash.  They found themselves learning how to re-plaster walls, finish floors, restore windows, and much more.  Their work was featured in This Old House magazine in 2008, in Baltimore Magazine in 2012 in an article called “Trashed to Treasured,” and just a few months ago by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.  Mr. Tanner, a writer by trade, created a blog about their adventures.  The blog was very popular and led to the recently published book, From Animal House to Our House: a Love Story, a must-read for anybody who has struggled through a home renovation project.  Mr. Tanner is a wonderful storyteller and the evening is sure to be entertaining as well as informative.

Secretary of Interior Salazar Focuses on Women’s History in Baltimore

Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar at the Maryland Women's Heritage Center

On Tuesday, the Secretary of the Department of Interior Ken Salazar celebrated Women’s History Month with an appearance in downtown Baltimore at the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, just one week before Baltimore Heritage’s Behind the Scenes Tour there (Saturday March 31, 2-3 pm).  Joined by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Judge and First Lady Katie O’Malley, Secretary Salazar noted a serious underrepresentation of historic sites associated with women’s history, and articulated a vision for getting more of these places designated as National Historic Landmarks and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  In one example, the Secretary noted that of the country’s National Historic Landmarks, a designation that the Department of Interior bestows on buildings with the highest level of national significance, only 4% are places with significance to women’s heritage.

As the Secretary of the Department of Interior, Mr. Salazar oversees numerous agencies that are responsible for heritage sites, including the National Park Service that manages the National Register of Historic Places and the National Historic Landmark program.  In his vision for the near future, Secretary Salazar said that as the National Park Service gears up to celebrate its centennial anniversary in 2016, he is committed to launching a national dialogue over women’s heritage sites to create a blue print for how to bring these to a higher level of prominence and visibility.

Citing Maryland as a national leader in the role of state governments to promote women’s heritage, the Secretary also said that he is committed to more full federal funding for State Historic Preservation Offices as a way to  make sure that smaller places and ones with more local significance also receive assistance.

Baltimore Heritage will wrap up Women’s History Month with a tour of the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center on Saturday, March 31.  The tour is from 2-3 pm at the Center: 39 West Lexington Street, in the historic former BG&E Building.  The cost is $10.  Register online today.