Join us for a second West Side Walking Tour on January 20!

Read's Drug Store in 1934, courtesy Baltimore Sun

We’re returning to the Superblock this week for a second lunchtime walking tour on why historic buildings matter to the future of a revitalized West Side and how the proposal for the Superblock threatens to demolish that future. The tour takes place on the 50th Anniversary of the 1955 sit-in at the Read’s Drug Store at Howard & Lexington Streets, so we’ll be sharing a few stories about how black and white civil rights advocates fought to provide African Americans with equal rights to shop, work, and eat on Downtown’s West Side. From the Afro American’s Orchid & Onion 1945 campaign against downtown stores that discriminated against African American customers (“Onions” discriminated against black shoppers and “Orchids” did not) to the 1955 sit-in by the Baltimore Committee on Racial Equality and the students and faculty of Morgan State, Baltimore’s Civil Rights heritage can be found throughout the historic buildings of Downtown’s West Side.

West Side Lunchtime Walking Tour | East Entrance to Lexington Market (Lexington & Eutaw Streets)

Please also join us on February 9 from 7:00 to 8:30 PM at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum for a public forum on Preserving Baltimore’s Civil Rights Heritage. We’ll begin the forum with short presentations by Dr. Helena Hicks, a participant in the 1955 Reads Drug Store sit-in, Dr. Gabriel Tenabe on restoring the home of long-time Baltimore NAACP President Lillie Mae Carroll Jackson, Ms. Tanya Bowers from the National Trust for Historic Preservation on the proposed National Civil Rights Heritage Trail, and more. We’ll follow the presentations with an opportunity for attendees to share their own questions and comments on how we can preserve the stories, buildings and neighborhoods tied to Baltimore’s long civil rights fight.  Stay tuned for further details on our February 9 program!

Behind the Scenes Tour of Baltimore City College

We all know the “Castle on the Hill.”  Many of us spent a good part of our young lives there. Now please join us in walking through and learning the quintessential Baltimore history of this much beloved city landmark. And, yes, Poly grads are welcome too!

Baltimore City College | 3220 The Alameda, Baltimore, MD 21218

  • Wednesday, January 19, 2011, 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
  • Park in the school lot that is accessed from The Alameda
  • Register online today! $10 for members; $20 for non-members (please join!)

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Rowhouses, West Lafayette Avenue

Good news for West Baltimore neighborhoods with designation of new Edmondson Avenue Historic District

We are thrilled to share the good news that the neighborhoods of Evergreen, Bridgeview/Greenlawn, and Rosemont Homeowners/Tenants have been listed to the National Register of Historic Places through the new Edmondson Avenue Historic District on December 27, 2010.

We appreciate the support we received from West Baltimore MARC TOD Transportation, Inc., the Alliance of Rosemont Community Organizations and the Evergreen Protective Association as we developed and submitted the nomination last year. We look forward to continuing our partnerships with neighborhood leaders and residents to help home-owners within the new historic district take full advantage of the city and state historic tax credits as they maintain and rehabilitation the handsome “daylight” rowhouses that make up the new district.