Join Baltimore Heritage for our first Picnic in the Park evening of the summer! This free series celebrates the history of green spaces in our city as we explore some of the fantastic parks Baltimore offers. Pull out your picnic blanket so you can get comfy while we start with a quick talk from two of our tour guides on the history of Patterson Park and who made this green space possible, then we will enjoy some time socializing with others interested in history and preservation in the city. We will provide some cold drinks and snacks, courtesy of the Board of Directors, but please feel free to bring your own refreshments, takeout from one of the many delicious local restaurants surrounding the park, or just come to enjoy chatting with your favorite local history buffs!
Baltimore Heritage is working with a researcher, Susan Ferentinos, to take her documentation of LGBTQ history in Maryland and turn it into a National Register of Historic places nomination to put Maryland (and Baltimore) on the national map for LGBTQ heritage.
We need your help! Please join us for a brainstorming session on Tuesday, April 28, 2026 at 5:30 pm to discuss LGBTQ heritage sites in Baltimore (and Maryland), priorities to focus on in the nomination, and how we might be able to publicize this new documentation. Should we have a celebration? A social media campaign? Or local landmarking? Please help us decide.
Our Light City Tours are a series of evening walking and boat tours to see our city in a new light. Participants are encouraged to take advantage of Baltimore’s evening offerings, including theaters, artist open studios, and restaurants before or after each tour. Over the course of 2026, we will host evening tours in neighborhoods across the city, and on our harbor! Learn more and sign up for the first few tours below! And don’t forget to check out our calendar to see all of our upcoming tours and events.
This project has been funded in part by a grant from the Moe Family Fund for Statewide and Local Partners of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Join us for an exciting lecture series this spring at the historic Garrett-Jacobs Mansion, also known as the Engineers Club. One Sunday afternoon each month from March through May, join us for an in-depth talk by a subject matter expert all the while sitting in a gorgeous Gilded Age mansion. Learn more and sign up for each lecture below! And don’t forget to check out our calendar to see all of our upcoming tours and events.
–Johns Hopkins, Executive Director
Immigrants at Locust Point, 1904 (Image courtesy of the Maryland Center for History and Culture)
Building Baltimore: A Talk on Immigration and Opportunity by Jack Burkert
For almost two million people, Baltimore was the destination that promised a new life, hope and opportunity. Beginning in earnest in the 18th century, accelerating through the 19th, immigrants provided the labor force necessary for Baltimore to become an industrial powerhouse. Early arrivals endured often tortuous Atlantic crossings under sail. Later steam powered ships sped the trip, but steerage accommodation offered little improvement to time spent at sea. Who were these people? Where were they from? Why did they abandon their homes? On March 1, join Baltimore historian Jack Burkert to explore immigration into Baltimore.
American Revolution and the Fate of the World: A Talk by Dr. Richard Bell
The American Revolution was not only the colonies’ triumphant liberation from the rule of an overbearing England; it was also a cataclysm that pulled in participants from around the globe and threw the entire world order into chaos. The “War of Independence” manifested itself as a sprawling struggle that upended the lives of millions of people on every continent and fundamentally transformed the way the world works, disrupting trade, restructuring penal systems, stirring famine, and creating the first global refugee crisis. On April 12, join acclaimed University of Maryland history professor and author Dr. Richard Bell as he upends much of what we thought we knew about the American Revolution.
The Making of America’s Greatest Classical Architect: A Talk by Charlie Duff
John Russell Pope designed the National Gallery, the National Archives, the Jefferson Memorial, and dozens of other buildings of national importance. He was arguably the greatest master of classical architecture in American history. So how did this New Yorker get his start in Baltimore? He wasn’t from here. He didn’t go to school here. But it was a Baltimorean who gave him his first independent commission, and it was Baltimoreans who gave him the chance to build his first museum. On May 24, join Baltimore historian and architecture buff Charlie Duff to investigate Pope’s work in Baltimore and his lasting impact on America.
