The library will be closed for inventory December 26 through
January 5. Regular hours will resume January 9, 2008.
Welcome to the H. Furlong Baldwin Library! On these pages you will be able to prepare to visit the Library by looking at our "User Information" pages; read about our research, copying, and other services and programs; learn how to find different types of materials, view subject guides, and look at our online exhibits in "The Collections" pages; and access our online library catalog.
Please explore these pages and discover the wonderful resources available to you at the Maryland Historical Society.
The Library's hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Closed for lunch 12pm - 1pm.
The H. Furlong Baldwin Library houses some of the nation's most extensive and important historical resources, all of which are available to the public. The Library occupies three levels of the Thomas & Hugg Building. Highlights of its facilities include:
The 2nd floor entrance via the Beard Pavilion orients visitors to the Library and its extensive collections with an information desk, welcome area, and computer reference center.
The Walter Edgar Rhodes Reading Room (formerly the Main Reading Room), is restored to resemble its original 1917 appearance with improvements including restored historic light fixtures, greatly expanded seating, and electrical outlets underneath the tabletops.
The Hackerman Gallery and the Mary Washington Marr Newhall Gallery are exhibit areas for the display of items from the Library's collections.
The Student Research Center for History (SeaRCH), offered in conjunction with the MdHS Education Division, provides secondary school students and teachers with a place to go for help in using original manuscripts, photographs, and other sources from the Library's collections for research projects. SeaRCH meets in the Alexander A. McIlvain Special Collections Reading Room in a cozy atmosphere created by wood paneling, three large windows, and two marble fireplaces.
Among the seven million items in the Library's collections are Francis Scott Key's original manuscript of "The Star-Spangled Banner," papers of Maryland's colonial governors and signers of the Declaration of Independence, over 700,000 photographs, and extensive genealogical resources. The Library maintains an extraordinary collection of books, journals, manuscripts, newspapers, maps, prints, obsolete currency, oral histories, ephemera, and microfilm reflecting the history of Maryland and its people. The Library is looking for more books on Maryland history and genealogy.
Learn how you can donate a book.
These
collections bring four centuries of Maryland history to life for the over
12,000 researchers the library serves each year. Striving to make its
collections even more accessible through on-line resources that include
over 6,000 photographs and detailed finding aids, the Library enables
researchers, students, teachers, and more to have access to the records
of the past while preserving irreplaceable historical materials for use
by future generations.
2007 Maryland Historical Society - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
