Race, class and antisemitism in Baltimore (Frederick, Towson: houses, movie theaters, college)

[Be More]

barante...are you going to this at the Jewish Maryland Museum? I got the same email and I think I am going to head to it. I could not tell from the email..but will they have an exhibit now on Baltimore and WW2? If so..it would be too be too damn good to be true.

[Be More]

Looks like the MHS has an exhibit on the Mason/Dixon line.

[barante]

This is a current WWII exhibit:
In the Samson, Rosetta, and Sadie B. Feldman Gallery
On Display Until Sunday, July 27, 2008
Ours to Fight For: American Jews in the Second World War

Also:
Voices of Lombard Street : A Century of Change in East Baltimore
Visit this landmark exhibition that interprets the history of the old Jewish section of East Baltimore. As it traces the neighborhood's evolution from 1900 to today, the exhibition chronicles Jewish life and shows how the experiences of Jews and other residents intersected, overlapped and diverged.
http://www.jhsm.org/html/documents/JMM-134-brochure.pdf (broken link)

The Jewish Museum of Maryland

I haven't decided about going. It's going to be a mob scene and I'm hard at hearing. Also, I heard Gilbert Sandler on the same topic at the Museum of Industry, which now holds his private archives. His is an interesting talk, particularly when he talks about how hillbillies inundated the city during WWII.

[Be More]

Interesting. I wish I would of known about the WW2 "stuff" they had going on before the end of the school year. I love the archives they have the Jewish Museum..I need to do a better job of utilizing that next year. Not to mention its just a short walk from Patterson.

[Be More]

That is funny about the hillbillies. I couldn't not quite figure out how Pigtown and Morrell Park came to be what they are.... then I watched an episode of Homocide where they talked about the hillbillies coming down from the hills of West VA after WW2 in search of work. I actually have learned more about the different neighborhoods in this town by watching Homocide than anything else.

Off the topic a bit.... I have not had a chance to read the book yet..but apparently in the book "Charm City" it tells of a house in Baltimore where George Washington planned the final battle of the Revolution at Yorktown. Do you have any idea where that would be? Its not at the Mount Clare mansion is it?

[barante]

This discussion has raised several issues that readers may want to pursue further. Here is a short reading list:
"The Baltimore Book: New Views of Local History" contains several pertinent essays. Bill Harvey writes about Hampden-Woodberry's mills; Karen Olson about segregation and the struggle for equality with a focus on West Baltimore; Linda Shopes on Fells Point (including the anti-expressway wars); Linda Zeidman on Sparrows Point, Dundalk, Highlandtown and Old West Baltimore; W. Edward Orser on suburbanization and racial change. These are just some of the articles.
"Blockbusting in Baltimore" by W. Edward Orser delves into what happened in Edmondson Village.
"Behind the Backlash: White Working-Class Politics in Baltimore, 1940-1980," by Kenneth D. Durr discusses those issues.
"Got My Mind Set on Freedom" by Barbara Mills tells the story of desegregation battles from the viewpoint of a CORE activist.
Except for Mills' books, all these are widely available at booksellers, and all of them should be at the Enoch Pratt Free Library.

[barante]

It occurs to me that this is the time to discus the vertical files (FV) in the Maryland Room of the Enoch Pratt Main Library on Cathedral Street. They contain an amazing amount of Baltimore history over the past hundred years -- newspaper and magazine articles, research reports, original documents. They are filed in huge steel cabinets, alphabetically. You may want to talk to a librarian about your particular interest, though, because the classifications can be bizarre.
So if you want to know public buildings or landmarks, parks or neighborhoods, it's all there. I have often used the voluminous housing files. Extensive files also about public health and education. This is also the place to go for race relations (although a similar file in the African-American department downstairs has several files).
This in my opinion is an incredible resource, a veritable attick of old Baltimoreana, totally irreplaceable. Unfortunately the files are in pretty bad shape and should be scanned asap. Otherwise a lot of stuff will be lost.

[Be More]

I love the Maryland Room...but have only gone through the books. I will have to check out those files.

[barante]

Did you go to hear Gilbert Sandler? If so, how was it?
For those who are not familiar with Gilbert, he is the best chronicler of Baltimore's recent past. He used to write a popular column for The Evening Sun (before that paper of Mencken folded). Nowadays he writes once a month for The Jewish Times and can be heard on WYPR on Fridays.
When I prepared my little reading list, I omitted Gilbert's most important books -- "Smalltown Baltimore" and "Jewish Baltimore." He is currently working on a book about this crabtown during World War II, a period of incredible changes.
Both of Sandler's books are illustrated. For those interested in old photos, any book by Jacques Kelly is recommended. Wonderful stuff.

[Be More]

I missed it...not happy. I found out that they will have two seminars for teachers this summer regarding WW2 and Baltimore, so I will attend those.

Those books sound pretty cool. Sounds like I will be pretty busy this summer.