Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
The Maryland Historical Society this week celebrates its 175th anniversary, marking years of preserving records of such cultural heritage as the Civil War and the Catonsville Nine.
Founded in 1844, the Society is the state’s oldest and continuously operating diverse and cultural institution. While it has been dutifully sharing past and present history with the citizens of Baltimore and the state, David Armenti, director of education, said a deliberate choice was made to diversify the Society collection to reach new audiences.
“Having a substantial impact on the community is also a part of our growing mission,” Armenti told The Baltimore Watchdog.
“The goal is to simply make sure people of all ages see themselves within the exhibit and find something that they can connect to,” he explained. “Making sure that the Society has more human stories that are more representative of a wider range of people in the Baltimore community.”
The society began with Marylander’s providing records of a small segment of local families willing to discuss the legacy and early history of the free state. In 1844, founders of the Society held meetings in the Baltimore City Post Office. Then in 1919, the organization moved to its current home at 201 West Monument Street.
One popular exhibit today is the Catonsville Nine, 50 Years Later,” which was inspired by Curator of Films & Photographs Joe Tropea. The iconic event was one of the most impactful political protest in the history of Baltimore County, he said.
The Catonsville Nine were nine Catholic activists who burned draft files to protest the Vietnam War, officials said. On May 17, 1968, the two women and seven men marched to the draft board in Catonsville, Maryland, took 378 draft files, brought them to the parking lot in wire baskets, dumped them out, poured over them homemade napalm, and set them on fire.
The inspiration behind Tropea’s event in the Society came from a documentary Tropea co-directed in 2013 called “Hit and Stay,” an award-winning film. The history of faith and resistance from the Catonsville Nine inspired the documentary, he said.
“I’ve seen people interact with the exhibit and enjoy a lot of my work,” said Tropea. “People have even made collages as a screen print from the exhibit.
Tropea added, “This segment of the exhibit explores the consequences of civil disobedience.”
In 2012, the Society opened to the community the Paul Henderson photograph collection. Henderson was a photojournalist who worked for the Baltimore Afro American newspaper from 1930s to the 1950s. Nearly 7,000 of his photographs have been housed at the Historical Society since the late 1990s.
Society officials boast of the institution’s growth from collecting the remains of the state’s history and preserving the heritage through research, writing, and publications. Enjoying the work the most are schoolchildren from kindergarten to 12th grade, including the home school community. Officials said students take a virtual educational tour, learning history from the early Colonial movement in Maryland up to the 21st century.
The elderly also are big fans of the Society’s work and often are encouraged to take virtual field tours and view art exhibits.
“We tend to have a bigger impact on the younger audience especially the students who learn about the areas they are from in Baltimore,” said Armenti.
For about five years, the Society has been producing live interactive virtual lessons. Officials said plans are being made to expand nationwide on the digital and virtual field tour. For people who live farther away, in such areas as the Eastern Shore and California, for example, they can take the virtual tour without physically being at the museum, officials said.
After expanding in 1953, the educational activities were only part of the Society’s programming. A new virtual field tour was added that traced the life of Abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Armenti said the exhibit that lives in the museum also “launches a point for conversation to push historical stories out in the community and have a life beyond the museum.”
Wendy Salzman, an occasional customer, agreed.
“We had a wonderful experience finding information from the last century,” she said during a recent visit. “Maryland has such a rich and colorful past it’s worth spending a lot more than a day here.”