Events
Unless noted otherwise, all events and exhibitions are free with a museum admission charge of $4 adults; $3 senior citizens; children under 12 free. Free First Thursday of each month.
To register for MdHS programs, call 410-685-3750 ext 319, unless otherwise noted
Ongoing Programs
Gallery Walks
Meander, Munch and Marvel
Join us on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month from noon to 1:30 p.m. for a special guided tour of one of our galleries and a boxed lunch.
Thursday, April 8 -Treasures from the H. Furlong Baldwin Library
Explore rare documents from the MdHS collection, including the archive's "Famous Person" file
Thursday, May 13 – Painting the Scene: History in Maryland Landscape Paintings
Journey through Maryland scenes in our landscape gallery
$20 members; $25 non-members
Space is limited, so call now to reserve a lunch.
Family History Workshop Series
Join noted author and genealogist Robert Barnes for his series of workshops designed to introduce new family historians to techniques and allow seasoned researchers to find new resources.
April 3, 2010 — Census, Church & Vital Records
June 6, 2010 — Land, Court & Probate Records
October 2, 2010 — Immigration & Naturalization Records
Each session is held from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and includes continental breakfast and boxed lunch. Each session is $50 MdHS Members/ $65 Non-members or you may purchase the series for $175 MdHS Members/ $200 Non-members. Advance registration required.
Francis Scott Key Lecture Series
Thursday, April 1 – A Chesapeake Aesthetic: Fashionable Design in Later 19th-Century Baltimore
JAMES ARCHER ABBOTT, Director, Evergreen Museum & Library
Thursday, September 2 – In the Most Fashionable Taste: English silver in Colonial Maryland
JENNIFER FAULDS GOLDSBOROUGH, Professor of Decorative Arts and former Chief Curator, Maryland Historical Society
Thursday, October 7 – History of the United States Capitol with an evaluation of the Capitol Competition Drawings
WILLIAM C. ALLEN, Architectural Historian, Office of the Architect of the Capitol
Thursday, November 4 – With Whimsy and Artistry: Folk Art at the Maryland Historical Society
ALEXANDRA DEUTSCH, Chief Curator, Maryland Historical Society
This series of lectures will take place on the first Thursday of the month at 6:00 p.m.
Price of series per year is $150/person and $275/couple. Lectures are open to all members for $35 each.
March
Saturday, March 20, 12-4 p.m.
Irish History and Heritage Festival
Celebrate the history and culture of Ireland at the MdHS. Experience Irish music and dance; taste traditional foods; and learn about the impact that Irish immigrants had on the development of Baltimore City and the State of Maryland. This program is appropriate for adults and children alike.
Free MdHS Members/ $10 Non-members
Program made possible by support from the M. Florence Reynolds Fund.
Thursday, March 25, 12 p.m.
Maryland Day
Celebrate the founding of Maryland and the presentation of the 2010 “Marylander of the Year” Award at a luncheon and reception. Maryland Day commemorates the landing of The Ark and The Dove on St. Clement’s Island in 1634. These two small ships brought Leonard Calvert onto the shores of the Chesapeake. Calvert and his fellow Englishmen would settle the land that became our fine state. Join us as we celebrate Maryland’s long history and honor a special Marylander who has impacted the history and preservation of the state. Stay tuned to future MdHS publications for the announcement of the 2010 Marylander of the Year. Reservations should be made by March 20. Cost: $35/person
April
Saturday, April 10, 9;30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Discovering Maryland's National Treasures: Maryland in the Revolution Seminar
Learn about famous and lesser known Marylanders and their families who contributed to the cause of American independence. Hear from author and researcher John Beakes about Revolutionary heroes John Eager Howard, hero at the Battle of Cowpens, and Otho Holland Williams, brilliant strategist at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. Tour the MdHS Museum and examine the objects that filled the homes and lives of Marylanders during this period. See some of the MdHS Library’s Revolutionary treasures, including papers from both Howard and Williams and the Tilghman/Lloyd family of Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Participants will then enjoy a boxed lunch and see “The Language of Liberty,” a dramatic portrayal of life during the Revolution. See details below.
$40 MdHS Members/ $55 Non-members
Program made possible by support from the Society of Colonial Wars.
Saturday, April 10, 10:15 a.m.
The Language of Liberty
Enjoy the talents of the students of the Baltimore School for the Arts as they present original dramatic portrayals of life in Maryland during the American Revolution. This one-hour theatre performance is based on the students’ primary research in the MdHS collection and will highlight the complexities of life and liberty in Maryland in the eighteenth century.
$10 MdHS Members/ $15 Non-members
Thursday, April 14 6 p.m. reception, 6:30 p.m. lecture
The Last Lincoln Conspirator: John Surratt’s Flight from the Gallows
Talk by Andrew C.A. Jampoler
April 14, 2010, is the 145th anniversary of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. What happened to John Wilkes Booth and the eight other accomplices is a well-covered story. John Surratt alone managed to evade capture and punishment, although his mother Mary was hanged. Jampoler recounts the conspirator’s twenty-month flight from New York, through eastern Canada to a hideout in Liverpool, England, and on to France and the Papal States, where Surratt enlisted in the Papal Zouaves (the Pope’s army). Finally caught in Alexandria, Egypt, he was returned to Washington to stand trial in 1867, where the bitter legal proceedings against him bizarrely led to his freedom. After his trial, Surratt lived out his life peacefully in Baltimore.
Published by the Naval Institute Press, The Last Lincoln Conspirator: John Surratt’s Flight from the Gallows will be available for purchase and author signing.
$10 MdHS members, $15 non-members.
Wednesday, April 21, 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
Maryland’s National Treasures Preview Reception
Collaborative exhibition between the Maryland Historical Society and Maryland State Archives featuring historical paintings by Charles Willson Peale of George Washington, William Pitt, William Paca and others displayed together for the first time. Also on view for this night only will be George Washington’s personal annotated copy of the speech he gave in the Old Senate Chamber on December 23, 1783, when he resigned his commission as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army.
Cost: $50/person.
Thursday, April 22 5:30 p.m. reception, 6 p.m. lecture
Chesapeake Ferries, Bridging a Watery Divide: An Illustrated Talk by Pete Lesher
Ferries once crisscrossed the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries from the Susquehanna River in the north to the mouth of the bay, providing waterborne links between otherwise isolated communities. Before the modern network of roads and bridges developed, the bay divided people living in its region as much as it provided a highway connecting them. This lecture will explore how ferries linked people and places and helped to pave the way for a more interconnected society in the region.
Commemorate the MdHS publication of Chesapeake Ferries: A Waterborne Tradition authored by the late Clara Ann Simmons with this talk by Pete Lesher. Lesher is curator of collections for the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, where he is responsible for the museum’s collections – ranging from floating watercraft to sailmakers’ needles, photographs, manuscripts, and oral history archives. His principal research interest is the history of wooden shipbuilding and boatbuilding on the Chesapeake and he has published a series of articles on the topic in the MdHS’s own Maryland Historical Magazine. Lesher regularly lectures on maritime topics ranging from transportation and trade to resource use, recreation, and shipbuilding history.
$10 MdHS Members/ $15 Non-members
An Authors and Artifacts presentation of the MdHS Maritime Committee
May
Friday, May 7, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Baltimore City Historical Society’s 2010 Roundtable:
Baltimore History Works in Progress
Join us to hear some of the best recent works on Baltimore history by local historians including Robert Brugger, Gilbert Sandler, and Kriste Lindenmeyer. Includes a boxed lunch and a tour of the Maryland Historical Society’s research facilities. Sponsored by the Baltimore City Historical Society, the University of Maryland Law School, and the Maryland Historical Society.
Cost: $15/person
For details and registration information, see the program flier
Saturday, May 8, 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Flower Mart Celebration
Celebrate the tradition of Flower Mart with the Maryland Historical Society. See special selections from MdHS’s hat collection, on view this weekend only. Decorate your own hat, make paper flowers, and enjoy lemonade and cookies with us!
Free with admission
June
Saturday, June 19, 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Women Artists and Folk Art
Celebrate women’s artistic traditions with a series of demonstrations of quilting, beading, claywork, and needlework for adults; children’s craft activities; and tours of the Maryland Historical Society’s folk art exhibition.
Cost: $10/adult, $5/child 13 and under (one free child for every two adults); free for MdHS members
