The Maryland Center for History and Culture collects, preserves, and interprets the history, art, and culture of Maryland. By exploring multiple perspectives and sharing national stories through the lens of Maryland, the MCHC inspires critical thinking, creativity, and community.[3]
The Maryland Center for History and Culture (MCHC), formerly the Maryland Historical Society (MdHS),[6] founded on March 1, 1844,[1] is the oldest cultural institution in the U.S. state of Maryland. The organization "collects, preserves, and interprets objects and materials reflecting Maryland's diverse heritage". The MCHC has a museum, library, holds educational programs, and publishes scholarly works on Maryland.
The organization changed its name from "Maryland Historical Society" to "Maryland Center for History and Culture" in September 2020 shortly after celebrating its 175th anniversary.[6]
The MCHC Today
Journal
Since 1906, the MCHC has published Maryland Historical Magazine, a peer-reviewed quarterly journal boasting one of the largest readerships among state historical organization journals. The organization also publishes books on Maryland history that are distributed through a partnership with the Johns Hopkins University Press, including Crime and Punishment in Early Maryland written by former MdHS librarian Raphael Semmes (1890–1952). The MCHC has over 100 titles in the Library of Congress.
Exhibitions
Notables on exhibit at the MCHC are the original manuscript of "The Star-Spangled Banner" and the letters and journals of Benjamin Banneker. The MCHC showcases include 231 weapons, 866 pieces of jewelry, 2,200 Native American prehistoric archaeological objects, 15,000 musical scores as well as a remarkable collection of 18th- and 19th-century paintings and silver, maritime artifacts, Maryland painted and inlaid furniture, quilts, costumes, ceramics, dolls and toys. Exhibits include Maryland's history, Maryland in art and furniture in Maryland life.
Library
The H. Furlong Baldwin Library’s collections are both diverse and substantive. The library enables researchers, teachers, and students to see for themselves the records of the past, and to study and learn from its many treasures. The library’s collections include 60,000 books, 800,000 photographs, 5 million manuscripts, 6,500 prints and broadsides, 1 million pieces of printed ephemera, extensive genealogy indexes, and more, reflecting the history of Maryland and its people. These collections are accessible to visitors on-line and at the MCHC campus in Baltimore.
In 1968 the library acquired 80 photographs by Bert Sadler, noted for his work in capturing everyday American life.
On July 9, 2011, Barry Landau and Jason Savedoff were arrested and later indicted for the theft of 60 society documents.[citation needed]
Preserve the Baltimore Uprising
The MCHC is a community partner of Preserve the Baltimore Uprising, a digital archive devoted to preserving and making accessible media created and captured by people and organizations involved in or witness to the protests following Freddie Gray's death in 2015.[8] The 2016–2017 MdHS exhibit What & Why: Collecting at the Maryland Historical Society included items from the Preserve the Baltimore Uprising collections in a video installation.[9]
The Enoch Pratt Free Library is the free public library system of Baltimore, Maryland. Its Central Library is located on 400 Cathedral Street (southbound) and occupies the northeastern three quarters of a city block bounded by West Franklin Street to the north, Cathedral Street to the east, West Mulberry Street to the south, and Park Avenue (northbound) to the west. Located on historic Cathedral Hill, north of downtown, the library is also in the Mount Vernon-Belvedere-Mount Royal neighborhood and cultural and historic district.
The Great Baltimore Fire raged in Baltimore, Maryland from Sunday February 7 to Monday February 8, 1904. In the fire, more than 1,500 buildings were completely leveled, and some 1,000 severely damaged, bringing property loss from the disaster to an estimated $100 million. 1,231 firefighters helped bring the blaze under control, both professional paid truck and engine companies from the Baltimore City Fire Department (B.C.F.D.) and volunteers from the surrounding counties and outlying towns of Maryland, as well as out-of-state units that arrived on the major railroads. It destroyed much of central Baltimore, including over 1,500 buildings covering an area of some 140 acres (57 ha).
The Historical Society of Washington, D.C., also called the DC History Center, is an educational foundation dedicated to preserving and displaying the history of Washington, D.C. The society provides lectures, exhibits, classes, and community events. It runs a museum, library, and publishes the journal Washington History. It had been named The Columbia Historical Society from its founding in 1894 until 1988.
Enoch Pratt was an American businessman in Baltimore, Maryland. Pratt was also a committed active Unitarian, and a philanthropist. He is best known for his donations to establish the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore and expanding the former Sheppard Asylum to become The Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital,, located north of the city in western Towson, county seat of Baltimore County. Born and raised in Massachusetts, he moved south to the Chesapeake Bay area and became devoted to the civic interests of the city of Baltimore. He earned his fortune as an owner of business interests beginning in the 1830s originally as a hardware wholesaler, and later expanding into railroads, banking and finance, iron works, and steamship lines and other transportation companies.
Gay Life was a weekly newspaper about gay culture published by the LGBT Community Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland. It was distributed in Baltimore, Maryland and throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.
The Jewish Museum of Maryland is located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The museum tells the story of the American Jewish experience in the city of Baltimore and throughout the US state of Maryland.
The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture is a resource for information about the lives and history of African American Marylanders. The Lewis Museum's mission is to collect, preserve, interpret, document, and exhibit the contributions of African American Marylanders using its collection of over 11,000 documents and objects and resources drawn from across the country.
Digital Maryland, formerly Maryland Digital Cultural Heritage (MDCH), is a collaborative, statewide digitization program. Headquartered at the Enoch Pratt Free Library/State Library Resource Center in Baltimore, the program partners with Maryland libraries, archives, historical societies, museums, and other institutions to digitize and provide free online access to materials relating to the state's history and culture. Materials in Digital Maryland's online digital collections include maps, manuscripts, photographs, artwork, books, and other media.
Carla Diane Hayden is an American librarian who is serving as the 14th librarian of Congress. Since the creation of the office of the librarian of Congress in 1802, Hayden is both the first African American and the first woman to hold this post. Appointed in 2016, she is the first professional librarian to hold the post since 1974.
Bohemian National Cemetery, also known as Oak Hill Cemetery, is a cemetery located at 1300 Horners Lane, Armistead Gardens in East Baltimore, Maryland.
The Telegraf was a local weekly newspaper published in Baltimore, Maryland. The newspaper ran for 42 years, from February 20, 1909, until 1951. It was directed at the Czech community in Baltimore and was published in Czech. The newspaper was founded and first published by Vaclav Joseph Shimek, who also founded the Grand Lodge Č.S.P.S. of Baltimore. After 1929, the newspaper was edited by the Rev. Frank Novak and published by August Klecka.
Jean Blackwell Hutson was an American librarian, archivist, writer, curator, educator, and later chief of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The Schomburg Center dedicated their Research and Reference Division in honor of Hutson.
The Historical Society of Baltimore County (HSBC) was founded in 1959 with the goal of preserving, interpreting, and illustrating the history of Baltimore County for the benefit of present and future generations of Marylanders, and is a resource for those interested in researching both local and family history. As the HSBC describes it, they "continually accomplish" their mission "through the production of presentations, lectures, workshops, entertaining educational publications, historical tours, and exhibits." Centrally located in Cockeysville, Maryland, the Society operates out of the Agriculture Building, the former Baltimore County Almshouse, which was built in 1872 and used to house the poor and mentally ill of Baltimore County until 1958.
Perna Krick was an American sculptor, painter and teacher.
Lee Woodward Zeigler, also known as Albert Lee Zeigler, was an American artist who began his career as an illustrator and later worked as a muralist.
Preserve the Baltimore Uprising is a digital archive devoted to preserving and making accessible media created and captured by people and organizations involved in or witness to the protests following Freddie Gray's death in 2015.
Thomas Patton Miller (1945–2000), who went by the name Tom Miller, was a Baltimore artist best known for his "Afro-Deco" painted furniture. He was born in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood and attended Carver Vocational Technical High School. In 1963, he received a scholarship to the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). After graduation, he taught art in the Baltimore City public schools for two decades before returning to MICA for his MFA, which he received in 1987.
Hilda Pauline Holme was an American Quaker relief worker in Europe after World War I, and a book collector.
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