Homewood Museum – Baltimore Magazine

New Homewood Exhibit Explores Ties Between 19th-Century Home Goods and the Environment

Christine Jackson — Mon, 09 Mar 2020 09:00:00 +0000

Has the climate crisis impacted your shopping habits recently? Maybe you’ve decided to patronize a secondhand clothing store or refurbish an antique piece of furniture for your home. Those choices matter, and that’s what the new exhibition Naturally Beautiful: Uncovering Nature in the Nineteenth-Century Home, opening March 11 at the Homewood Museum at Johns Hopkins, aims to explore.

The exhibit implores visitors to consider that the prominent Carroll family, who resided for a short period at Homewood, likely faced the same predicament that we do now as shoppers, deciding between conservation or consumerism.

“We’re committed to taking objects that we carefully furnish this house with and looking at them in new and interesting ways,” Homewood assistant curator Michelle Fitzgerald says.

In Naturally Beautiful, the Homewood Museum displays its collection of decorative art and furnishings in distinct rooms or environments throughout the home to show 19th-century homeowners’ relationship to nature, their increasing appreciation for it, and how their choices affected the environment.

“The idea is that the consumer habits of the 19th century truly impacted the environment,” says the museum’s director and curator Julie Rose, “which is something not unfamiliar to us today, and exploring how our predecessors valued mother nature,”

One of Fitzgerald’s favorite pieces on display is a mahogany desk from the 1800s. “It has these beautiful inlays,” she says. “And its primary wood is mahogany, which was hugely popular in colonial America. At this point, while it’s so popular and is considered a luxury item, the Jamaican mahogany trade is almost done because they’ve harvested all of the commercially viable lumber…Today, we still don’t have great commercial mahogany around.”

Visitors can also expect to see Homewood’s popular Blue John urns prominently displayed. Blue John is a semi-precious mineral often featuring eye-catching veins of electric blue and purple. Today, it can only be found in a limited number of mines and caverns in Derbyshire, England. Other featured raw materials among the household items and apparel in the exhibit include silver, coral, and bird feathers.

Naturally Beautiful also explores the growing popularity of picnicking in the 19th century. The curatorial team has created a picnic setting inside Homewood that speaks to the movement of appreciating the environment in a safe, recreational way.

“There were tables, wine, toys for the children, and enslaved people were tasked with setting up this luxurious environment all to admire the beautiful natural setting surrounding Homewood,” Rose says. “This was typical of wealthy Baltimoreans who had summer retreats.”

This exhibition was more than a year in the making, with much research conducted by curatorial assistant and JHU senior Ian Waggoner.

“We spent time interviewing and working with Hopkins’ environmental science and anthropology departments and learning from those professors,” Fitzgerald says. “It’s been a wonderful opportunity to bring in new departments, and hopefully visitors, to the museum.”

Rose and Fitzgerald both hope that, after seeing the exhibit, visitors are more aware of their consumer habits and look at the objects in their home differently.

“This exhibit supports the idea of recognizing that our natural environment provides so much beauty, but it’s at a cost,” Rose says, “and appreciating the beautiful things and materials that go into making things for the home.”

Naturally Beautiful runs at the Homewood Museum from March 11 to June 5.

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Telling the Whole Story

Lauren Cohen — Mon, 16 Sep 2019 08:30:00 +0000

By Christine Jackson
Photography by Christopher Myers

Arts & Culture

Telling the Whole Story

Museums and historic homes enrich the present by grappling with their own difficult pasts.

By Christine Jackson
Photography by Christopher Myers

W alking through the halls of the Homewood Museum on the Johns Hopkins University Campus, there are reminders of its genteel former residents, the Carroll family, everywhere. Dignified portraits hang in front of intricately patterned wallpaper, and fine china is laid out in a sunny dining room, as if waiting for a multi-course supper. But turn a corner toward the butler’s pantry and you’ll come across a small alcove, a lone table, two chairs, and a low bed taking up most of the floor space. Presiding over the room is a dark, featureless mannequin in red and green livery. His portrait doesn’t hang anywhere in the house, but this faceless figure is meant to represent one of the other long-time residents of Homewood, William Ross.

Ross, his wife, Rebecca, and their two children were domestic servants in the Carroll house. Along with the Conner family, they made up a portion of the slave population at this historic Baltimore mansion throughout the early 19th century. They lived there, they worked there, and though their stories were long ignored in favor of architectural details and explanations of the Carrolls’ role in the foundations of Maryland, new research and programming from Hopkins has brought their lives to the forefront for the very first time.

Like many at historic estates across the country, the stewards of Homewood have spent recent years grappling with the harder parts of their building’s history. These homes offer windows into the past, but that past is by no means spotless. Slavery, indentured servitude, and the oppression of less privileged populations are embedded in their stately halls. But changes in education and expectations of visitors, as well as recognition by museums that they have a moral and ethical responsibility to tell the whole story, are altering these spaces for the better, and historical interpretation—the process by which historians describe, analyze, evaluate, and create an explanation of past events—is evolving.

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M useums across the country have spent the past few decades wrestling with how best to address cultural traumas and connect with people whose histories have been ignored. Since 1999, the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience has been expanding its network of historic sites and cultural institutions that “connect past struggles to today’s movements for human rights” and “turn memory into action.” Included on the list are sites such as Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello and James Madison’s Montpelier, both of which historically excluded slavery narratives from their programming, but today have dedicated themselves to researching and sharing the lives of those enslaved populations with visitors. While the only site in Maryland with this designation, Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park, sits on the Eastern Shore, other places across the state are working toward the same mission: to tell more truthful stories and present more complete narratives to help visitors better learn the lessons from the past.

Julie Rose, director and curator of Homewood, has been asking how museums can best present what she calls “difficult history” since the 1990s, even writing a book, Interpreting Difficult History at Museums and Historic Sites, on the topic. Her focus crystalized in 1995, when she was tasked with developing new programming for reconstructed slave quarters at Magnolia Mound Plantation in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Changes in education and expectations of visitors . . . are altering these spaces for the better, and historical interpretation is evolving.

“One of my first assignments was to develop school programming and tours to use this new historic structure,” Rose says. “I said to [my director], ‘This sounds great. Where’s the research about the enslaved community at Magnolia Mound?’ She just looked at me and said, ‘Well, there is none.’”

It’s not an uncommon problem. While the lives of the prominent families who lived in these homes are often well-documented, the paths of those who labored on the estates are harder to track. The Walters Art Museum did not know the name of either of the enslaved women who worked at Hackerman House, now called 1 West Mount Vernon Place, until 2016, when students from the Baltimore School for the Arts brought to their attention a letter previously only known to nonprofit Baltimore Heritage. And up the road, the 11-person Hampton Ethnographic Team has spent nearly three years doing research and locating descendants of the hundreds of enslaved men and women who once lived on the estate at Hampton National Historic Site in Towson.

Dr. Cheryl LaRoche of the University of Maryland is partially responsible for this new, expanded look at Hampton’s history. Along with historian Patsy Fletcher, who has since passed away, LaRoche submitted a proposal to the National Park Service detailing their plan to research the descendants of the enslaved population at Hampton. Both had visited the site and found themselves disappointed by the lack of discussion of slavery at the Ridgely family estate, which could not have thrived without it.

“I took the grand tour and was told that some distance away were the slave quarters. We were not given a tour of them, but we went on our own, and that interpretation from many, many years ago never left me,” LaRoche says. “I was curious about the people who had been enslaved there and was frustrated by the fact that there had been no substantive discussion whatsoever.”

What began as a project to research the descendants of those freed when former Governor Charles Ridgely died in 1829 became much broader as LaRoche lobbied to extend the scope to include the estate’s entire enslaved population of around 800 people.

“That original interpretation would have continued the narrative of the benevolent governor who [freed] these 350 or so people,” she says. “And I think it would have reinforced this narrow discussion by only tracing back to the people who had been [freed]. In order to do a credible job, we really couldn’t narrow the interpretation to that select group.”

The results have stunned even LaRoche. When her research began, she told herself that if they managed to find 12 descendants, the project would be a rousing success. After all, in the 70 years that NPS had owned Hampton, not one had been found. Instead, they’ve traced hundreds through intense genealogical research, oral histories, and an expansion of previous research protocol. At a special presentation of some of the new narratives discovered at Hampton in October, LaRoche says the presenters had to explain to attendees time and time again that it was a one-time-only event and that the project itself was still ongoing. People were so moved by the stories that they were already asking when they could return or bring others back with them to hear more.

Although the research into these lost narratives is often incomplete, it offers much in the way of altering perspectives and shifting the conversations that visitors and educators have around these spaces. It can help reshape the way entire historic places are viewed.

The history of 1 West Mount Vernon Place inspired artist Roberto Lugo's ceramics for the reopened space's first exhibition.

F or years, Hackerman House was known primarily for its architecture and ceramics collection, but through the letter provided to them by BSA students, historians at The Walters learned of Sybby Grant, who was the cook at the house in the 1860s. While they’ve still yet to identify a second enslaved woman who worked in the home during that period, Grant’s story is now an integral part of the Mount Vernon mansion’s new life.

“From that moment, we realized that we actually could tell in a very concrete way stories about different kinds of individuals,” says Julia Marciari-Alexander, director of The Walters. “It created a sense of responsibility around the way that we use the interpretation of the materials that we have to think differently about the past and now—using these objects to create connections with people out in the community.”

For the first exhibition in 1 West Mount Vernon Place, which reopened in June 2018, The Walters commissioned ceramist Roberto to create pieces inspired by the museum’s collection, history, and occupants, including Grant. While the exhibition has since closed to make way for a new contemporary show (which will use Antonio McAfee’s interpretations of W.E.B. DuBois’ Exhibit of American Negroes and Jay Gould’s evocative portraits of modern-day Baltimoreans to explore class and labor across time), the museum acquired some of Lugo’s works, as well as the original Grant letter. Both are now on permanent display.

“This house had not been a home for a long time when we got it,” says Marciari-Alexander. “Returning to the notion of telling the story of the families who’ve lived here, the various workers who worked on the building, the two enslaved individuals who lived here . . . it’s been wonderful.”

At Hampton, the Ethnographic Team is in the process of editing their final report. While the research project officially ends this October, the many historic threads they’ve followed over the past two years will influence new programming at the national park for years to come.

“We’ve already been incorporating new information into our daily tours,” says Abbi Wicklein-Bayne, chief of interpretation for both Hampton and Fort McHenry. “But there will definitely be themes and stories that will be incorporated into everybody’s tour once [the study] wraps up, and we will be working on an exhibition.”

Farther south in Hollywood, Maryland, Sotterley Plantation recently hosted a remembrance day that included a public reading of the names of those who were enslaved there and a bell-ringing in honor of the men and women who died on the plantation, as well as on the journey across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa. The estate’s slave cabin, thought to be the only such structure in the state open to the public, opened in 2017 after an eight-year restoration project inspired by the work of Baltimorean Agnes Kane Callum, whose grandfather was born into slavery at Sotterley in 1860 and who began giving her own tours of the cabin to friends and family in the 1970s.

Of course, there is still far more work to be done. LaRoche notes that Maryland as a whole has been reluctant to engage with its difficult past. There is still no one place for families and historians to access plantation research across the state, and many of the historic homes where people could engage with this history have been converted into venues for weddings and other events, closing them off from the public. But steps can be taken to begin correcting that, too.

“There’s a whole field of study waiting to be opened up,” says LaRoche. “What you’re seeing with Homewood and Sotterley are individual efforts. They have not come together as a collective. We need to continue to do the type of research we’ve done at Hampton . . . and really make these associations look squarely at all the different aspects of slavery and labor to give the full context.”

Copies of documents, including a posted reward for the return of William Ross and an indenture agreement, on view at Homewood.

A s this new research evolves these spaces and their exhibits, museum staff have also had to adapt. Many of those who give tours and engage directly with visitors are volunteers, and most are untrained in how to discuss cultural trauma or help people work through the intense feelings these new exhibitions can inspire.

Rose has already seen the change in visitor reactions at Homewood. While many are engaged and curious about the varied lives of those at the home, others have had more emotional responses. A visiting graduate student left the room during an anecdote about the life of Cis Conner, an enslaved woman who worked as a house servant and spinner for Harriet Chew Carroll. Conner bore six of her 13 children while living at Homewood and was eventually sent to a Louisiana sugar plantation with her husband, Izadod, and their family in 1836. While she and the children returned to the Carrolls’ plantation in Ellicott City in 1838, Izadod disappears from record after leaving Homewood. The student met with Rose in a hall to compose herself before moving through the rest of the tour.

“Her lower lip was sort of aquiver, and she was uncomfortable and she was unhappy,” Rose says. “I said, ‘What can I do?’ and we talked and I asked her, ‘Are you going to be okay?’ She said, ‘This is really important, don’t get me wrong. I know this information has to get out there. I just need to grapple with it.’”

The Butler’s Pantry at Homewood.

Helping visitors through that process is a role that many museums have found themselves in recently. It’s the nature of spaces dedicated to hard truths. As museum planners Gail Dexter Lord and Ngaire Blankenberg explored in their book Cities, Museums, and Soft Power, these institutions can influence cultural change and contribute to the contextual intelligence of their communities. But that power is based on community participation. And that begins with interpreters who are willing to abandon watered-down and whitewashed versions of their buildings’ histories in favor of the truth.

“One of the things that I’ve learned over time is that we can’t just give [staff] the stories, because [they] don’t know what to do,” says LaRoche. “Personal attitudes and ideas and understanding can cloud the research. So part of what we have to look at is truly the kind of comfort level people have with talking about slavery . . . and the willingness or unwillingness of the docent, the interpreter, to engage with the difficult history beyond this irresponsible narrative that has been perpetuated for so long. If we cannot begin to penetrate the psyche of the docent and the volunteer, we lose that effort.”

To that end, places such as Homewood and Hampton are actively training their volunteers and docents on how to have hard discussions with visitors and the best ways to present these stories to the many groups who pass through the museums, be they children on a school field trip or retirees revisiting a home they once toured purely to admire the silver. In July, Homewood received a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to bring in Linnea Grim, director of education and visitor programs at Monticello, and Shawn Halifax, who trained the frontline staff at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, to educate their staff.

“We really need to be sure that our docents feel confident that they have the tools to assist visitors in grappling with difficult history,” says Rose. “We’re a work in progress, because we continually need to learn not only the parts of history that we continue to uncover, but how to assist our visitors in learning.”

Hampton, too, is taking steps to better educate its staff, hosting a two-day training session this month that will cover both the new stories unearthed by the Ethnography Project and the art of interpreting tough subjects. They, like others, are preparing themselves to answer challenging questions and have hard conversations, ones that they should have been having all along.

“We continually need to learn not only the parts of history that we continue to uncover, but how to assist our visitors in learning.”

“To stand up as a docent and just give a lecture . . . it really doesn’t work for anybody anymore, because what [visitors] want is to have a conversation,” says Marciari-Alexander. “That’s what art has always been. It’s about conversation. It’s about standing in front of someone and sharing what you know and hearing what the other person knows.” The hope is that these conversations, these stories, these windows into long-forgotten lives, will help fill the gaps in our histories that past generations allowed to widen.

Untethered by its mission to any specific period, 1 West Mount Vernon Place is in a unique position as a repurposed historic home to explore meaning across history. Marciari-Alexander hopes to use it to challenge people to consider different points in time simultaneously and blend contemporary works with their historical inspirations. For now, in the same room where Sybby Grant once set plates around a table, McAffe’s ghostly, bust-like portraits from the 1900 Exhibition of American Negroes look out at the room as they seem to float in place, asking visitors to consider representation over centuries.

And even as tour groups loop through the halls of Homewood, some holding informational cards connecting them to a member of the Ross or Conner family, research is being done to lengthen their threads and connect them to the present. “The more you uncover, the more questions come up,” Rose says. “Many people ask about descendancy, so we have work to do. What happened to the next generations? Where are their descendants in Baltimore now? Maybe this will help bring them to light and maybe a descendant will contact us. It’s wishful thinking, but it would be so helpful.”

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Drink Rum and Learn Something New with Johns Hopkins’ Homewood Museum

Jess Mayhugh — Thu, 23 May 2019 14:43:00 +0000

If the thought of rum conjures up images of pirates, college parties, and boozy daiquiris, you aren’t alone. But the spirit itself has a much more layered and complex past—one that you can explore at the 23rd Evening of Traditional Beverages put on by the Homewood Museum at Johns Hopkins University.

The annual event, this year held at the campus’ Mudd Hall on May 30 from 6-8 p.m., gives guests a big dose of history with a spoonful of spirits, live music, and local food all to benefit the museum and its future endeavors.

“It’s a fun way to think about history,” says Homewood Museum curator Julie Rose. “We haven’t focused on rum in over 15 years and I know it’s a big part of local lore.”

Indeed, rum was a huge imported product in 18th-century Maryland, mostly being shipped from Barbados into London Town and Gardens in Edgewater. According to historian Kyle Dalton, who will be speaking at next week’s event, the elixir was an apt symbol for cultural mores of the time.

“Maryland was a society of contradictions, as it was very communal but strictly hierarchical,” explains Dalton, coordinator of membership and development for the National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick. “Rum was a luxury product, so you knew that it was a fairly refined society drinking it. But it was most commonly consumed as a rum punch with colonists drinking directly from the same bowl, so that reflects the communal society.”

Dalton notes that it’s becoming commonplace for museums to try and replicate the past, like with living history exhibits and even the duplication of alcohol products. Colonial Williamsburg has been trying its hand at replicating beer (“the Miller Lite of the 1700s,” he notes) and Mount Vernon is producing a similar whiskey to what George Washington would have imbibed.

“Young audiences really want experiences, rather than something they can take home from the gift shop,” Dalton says. “Liquor is an experience you can share with other people. It’s a small time-travel experience for your tongue.”

That transformative aspect can be seen in modern-day Maryland, thanks to many distilleries using traditional recipes and methods for producing rum. Take St. Mary’s County-based Tobacco Barn Distillery, which makes its rum from 100-percent local ingredients that is then fermented, double-distilled, and sealed in bourbon barrels aboard the U.S.S. Constellation.

“On the ship, you get a little bit of movement that causes swirl and circulation in the barrel, so that imparts a lot more flavor,” says Tobacco Bar co-founder and former Navy admiral Scott Sanders. “If you were in Maryland in the 1700s, this would be the kind of rum you’s drink.”

Besides Tobacco Barn, the rum revival is alive and well in Maryland, thanks to distilleries like Lyon in St. Michael’s, Old Line Spirits in Highlandtown, Blackwater on Kent Island, and Lost Ark in Columbia—all pouring their products at Traditional Beverages.

“Rum not only interests me from a historical perspective, but we wanted to highlight the resurgence of distilleries in Maryland,” Rose says. “People have a real interest in seeing where their food comes from in terms of protecting our planet. There was the microbrewery phenomenon that has had such a big impact on the industry and people are interested in distilleries for that same reason.”

The rain-or-shine event will also feature locally sourced bites from Woodberry Kitchen and live calypso music from percussionists Christina Manceor and Matthew Stiens.

“Right now, campus is in a transition period after graduation, so it’s a great time to celebrate,” Rose says. “This is a good excuse to put on your floral shirt, relax a bit, and learn about some history of the drink.”

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Open & Shut: Raw & Refined; Taco Bravo; Tiki Barge

Lauren Cohen — Thu, 23 May 2019 14:27:00 +0000

OPEN

Raw & Refined: It’s going to be a great summer for dockside dining in Canton. On the heels of the news that the team behind Barcocina and Bond Street Social have taken over the Boathouse Canton, there’s also been a revival in the former home of Button adjacent to Swim Club. Officially opening this weekend, the nautical-themed seafood spot highlights a gallery of local artwork and floor-to-ceiling windows that look out onto the waterfront patio. The worldly menu was inspired by Chef Patrick Morrow and owner Dominic Lascola, who wanted the food to have Latin American and Caribbean influences.

“Everyone labels Baltimore as a seafood town, but everything is overtly crab-centric,” Lascola said in a statement. “We saw this as an opportunity to elevate what Baltimore is known for but feature new and creative flavors within the genre.” Dishes will include wood-fired mahi mahi, tuna tartare cannoli with ancho chili sauce, an open-faced Cubano, elote-inspired grilled oysters infused with chili lime butter and cotija, and a play on a Uruguayan chivito sandwich with steak, ham, egg, and olives. Of course, the spot will also be a go-to for summer sips like fruity Crushes and rum Old Fashioneds. 2723 Lighthouse Point.

Taco Bravo: We’ve seen a number of Tex-Mex spots sprout up in Baltimore County throughout the past few months, but the latest taqueria in the Padonia Village Shopping Center has a more authentic slant. The new Timonium hangout from the owners of Taco Daddy Cantina in Frederick and Gaithersburg opened earlier this week, highlighting white fish ceviche, corn tortillas filled with carnitas and lamb barbacoa, Estrella Jalisco Mexican beer, and smoky mezcal margaritas. Interior touches like hung greenery and bull-riding decor cement the theme. 31 E. Padonia Rd. Ste E. 443-689-7979

NEWS

Ekiben Vending at Smorgasburg in Washington, D.C.: Fells Point’s own steamed bun superheroes are spreading the love to the District this summer. Ekiben is one of 30 food vendors that will set up shop at the recurring Smorgasburg market at the Tingey Plaza in Navy Yard. The outdoor food extravaganza has gained tons of traction since it launched in New York and Los Angeles, and it’s starting its first season in D.C. off right with regional purveyors peddling everything from bao buns and boba to skewers and spiral-cut hot dogs. The market kicks off on June 15 and will continue every Saturday until October.

First Two Stalls Open at Cross Street Market: The day that South Baltimore locals have been waiting months for is finally here. Veteran vendors Fenwick’s Choice Meats and Steve’s Lunch have both officially reopened inside the renovated Cross Street Market. Twenty additional concepts—including a newly announced Royal Farms fried chicken stall—are expected to roll out through the summer. For now, diners can stroll through the revitalized space to check out the upgrades while grabbing some classic diner fare at Steve’s Lunch, or picking up specialty cuts from Fenwick’s. 1065 S. Charles St.

Chef Carlos Raba Featured in Men’s Journal: Don’t be surprised to see a familiar face while flipping through the June issue of this national lifestyle publication. Chef Carlos Raba of Clavel was featured in a piece that discusses some of his favorite things, which include hibiscus flowers, Frosted Flakes, and—unsurprisingly—ceviche and mezcal. “Grateful for my culture and to be able to represent my family, my interests, and my life with everyone,” the Sinaloan-born chef wrote on Instagram. Cheers to Raba on the grrrreat recognition.

EPICUREAN EVENTS

5/30: Evening of Traditional Beverages
Homewood Museum’s annual event delving into the history of local spirits is back for its 23rd year—this time with a focus on Maryland rum. Gather inside Mudd Hall’s atrium on the Johns Hopkins University campus to sample rums from distilleries including Blackwater, Lost Ark, Lyon, Old Line, and Tobacco Barn in Southern Maryland—which ages its barrels on the hull of the U.S.S. Constellation. Plus, there will be light bites from Woodberry Kitchen, live calypso music, and a talk about the trajectory and impact of Maryland rum by historian Kyle Dalton. 3400 N. Charles St. 6-8 p.m. $40-50. 410-516-5589

SHUT

Tiki Barge: Memorial Day Weekend marks the official return of many harborside bars around town, but this outdoor drinking destination won’t be one of them. Owner Dan Naor recently confirmed to The Sun that the Inner Harbor barge, which includes its own bar and swimming pool, is not reopening this summer. Since its debut in 2010, the floating marina bar became known as an oasis to sip tiki drinks while taking in panoramic views of the city. However, soon after opening, it was met with complaints from HarborView residents about noise, illegal parking, and other disruptive behavior. There’s no word yet on whether Tiki Barge will make a comeback in the future, but the property is listed for sale at a price of $1 million and we’ve heard rumors of a possible local buyer. 500 Harborview Drive

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A Guide to Baltimore Museums

Christine Jackson — Tue, 15 Jan 2019 16:57:00 +0000

Looking to add a bit of culture to your afternoon? There is no shortage of great museums around Baltimore. Whether it’s art, science, history, or a particular famous figure you’re interested in, there’s a place nearby to spend your day wandering and learning.

American Visionary Art Museum

This unique museum celebrating outsider art was named by Congress as the country’s official museum for self-taught art. Come for the elaborate sculptures, gorgeous drawings, and interesting assemblage pieces, then stick around to browse Sideshow, the treasure trove of a museum store downstairs. As a bonus, AVAM is free for federal employees (and up to three others) during the 2019 government shutdown with a valid ID.

For more visionary and local art, try: MICA Galleries, Eubie Blake Cultural Center

Baltimore Museum of Art

This free museum houses a collection of 95,000 works, so you’re sure to find something to interest everyone among its vast collection. Lovers of modern art will want to linger in the galleries housing the famed Cone Collection, while those looking for the more non-traditional can usually find something interesting and extraordinary in the Contemporary Wing or special exhibition galleries. Recent shows have included a John Waters retrospective, surreal visions of some of Europe’s great conflicts, and a look back at the BMA’s first exhibit to feature black artists.

For more art and antiques, try: Maryland Art Place, School 33 Art Center

Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African-American History & Culture

The Smithsonian-affiliated Reginald F. Lewis Museum is home to art, photographs, sculptures, military antiques, and ephemera chronicling Maryland’s African-American history from 1784 to the present. Although it’s connected to the Smithsonian, the Lewis Museum remains open throughout the shutdown and is offering free admission to furloughed workers and up to three guests with a valid government I.D.

For more African-American history and culture, try: Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park, National Great Blacks in Wax Museum

The Walters Art Museum

Housed across three buildings (including a historic residence) in Mount Vernon, the Walters features an extensive collection of Asian antiquities and decorative arts. Wander the Chamber of Wonders to experience what a 1600s nobleman might have shown off in his lavish home, or head to the 1 West Mount Vernon Place to see contemporary art placed alongside the preserved architecture of a 19th-century townhouse.

For more historic homes and exhibits, try: The Johns Hopkins Museums, The Star-Spangled Banner Flag House

The Baltimore Museum of Industry

Explore Baltimore’s history as a hub of business and industry at this South Baltimore museum housed in a former cannery. Exhibits include a 1900s garment loft, a recreated soda fountain, a print shop, and a gallery dedicated to how Baltimore fueled the rise of the automobile. Don’t forget to stop by the Baltimore docked outside—she’s the oldest steam-powered tugboat in the United States.

For more transportation and industrial history, try: The B&O Railroad Museum, Baltimore Streetcar Museum

Maryland Historical Society

The MdHS is the state’s oldest, continuously operating cultural institution, having been responsible for documenting Maryland history since 1844. With exhibits featuring figures such as The Catonsville Nine, Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte, and the Peale Family of painters, this collection is comprised of more than seven million items from pre-Colonial times to the present.

For more great figures from Baltimore’s past, try: The Babe Ruth Birthplace & Museum, Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum

Maryland Science Center

With a history going back to 1797 with the Maryland Academy of Sciences, this Inner Harbor spot has evolved into a family-friendly exploration of the natural world, from the smallest cells to history’s largest creatures. Visitors can also take advantage of Davis Planetarium or catch a movie on the IMAX screen, which will reopen in March after theater renovations are complete.

For more hands-on learning, try: Port Discovery Children’s Museum, Historic Ships in Baltimore

National Aquarium

Plan to spend some serious time at this colorful spot. Beyond the normal fish, rays, and other aquatic critters, you’ll find sloths, puffins, crocodiles, and more scattered across the many habitats housed in this multi-level aquarium. An indoor rainforest, a stories-high shark tank, and a living reef featuring Calypso, a rescued sea turtle, are just a few of the highlights in this gem overlooking the Inner Harbor. Book your timed entry ticket online to avoid long lines, and go first thing in the morning or late in the day to avoid the field trip crowd.

For more nature encounters, try: The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, Rawlings Conservatory

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Evening of Traditional Beverages Returns Showcasing Sparkling Wines

Lauren Cohen — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 13:12:00 +0000

Last summer, six Johns Hopkins University archaeology students were conducting preservation work around the perimeter of the university’s Homewood Museum when they unearthed an early 19th-century bottle of champagne.

A previous trenching project conducted in the 1980s, when Homewood was being restored into a museum, uncovered similar artifacts including wire cork cradles and bottlenecks dating back to the early 1800s—when Maryland’s historic Carroll family inhabited the estate.

“What we were able to do is compare what was found in 2017 to what was found in 1980s,” says Homewood’s director and curator Dr. Julie Rose. “And there was a significant amount of material that spoke to sparkling wine consumption, commerce, and service at that time.”

Suffice it to say, the Homewood team had plenty of inspiration for the theme of this year’s Evening of Traditional Beverages—an annual summer event that explores the history behind classic spirits and cocktails.

In previous years, the outdoor program has taught attendees about everything from ciders and shrub cocktails to bourbon and rye. This time around, Homewood’s 22nd annual event on Wednesday, June 13 at 6 p.m. will celebrate all things bubbly with a sampling of five sparkling wines and light bites by Woodberry Kitchen.

“It’s this opportunity for people interested in history and Maryland’s culture to be thinking about it in a different context,” Rose says. “Drinking champagne at home or at a restaurant is great, but to consume sparkling wines in this setting of the historic house really elevates the experience in terms of how we are still so tied to our past.”

Aside from the archaeological findings, Rose mentions that a survey of the wine cellar in the Homewood Museum revealed that the Carroll family had an extensive collection of French Champagne.

“It was very fashionable and relatively new for Americans at the time,” Rose says. “Both Charles Carroll of Carrollton and his son, Charles Carroll of Homewood, had their formal education in France. So they were fluent in French and had an affinity for French culture. It makes a lot of sense that Champagne would be on their dining room table.”

Some of the cellar findings will be on display for attendees at the event, which will feature remarks by Al Spoler of WYPR’s “Cellar Notes” and sparkling beverages including Dibon NV Brut Reserve Cava, Bisol Jeio Prosecco, Roederer American sparkling wine, and the Albariño Pét-Nat from our own Old Westminster Winery (OWW).

“This particular albariño really captures the essence of what we’re out to do,” says OWW co-owner Drew Baker. “We grow the grape in our home vineyard, and it offers so much interest. Unlike a cabernet or sauvignon blanc that is made with grapes grown throughout the world, it isn’t ubiquitous. Albariño is a little more niche.”

Baker describes the pét-nat as one of the most ancient styles of sparkling wine. The process, which pre-dates champagne production by several hundred years, involves bottle-conditioning the wine so that it is naturally carbonated without adding any sugar or yeast. The historical element, says Baker, couples well with the academic nature of the event.

“It’s kind of like what’s old is new again,” he says. “When consumers discover this style and understand how it’s made, they quickly fall in love with it. People want to go back to their roots.”

The annual event, located on the lush lawn outside of Homewood Museum, always adds a bit of education to after-work libation.

“We like to think of the event as sort of the unofficial kick-off to summer,” Rose says. “There’s been a clear interest to look at alcoholic beverages and all the history and culture that goes along with them.”

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Homewood Museum’s Evening of Traditional Beverages Celebrates 20th Year

Lauren Cohen — Wed, 18 May 2016 09:00:00 +0000

Twenty years ago, the curators at Johns Hopkins University’s Homewood Museum were inspired by James Gabler’s Passion: The Wines and Travels of Thomas Jefferson—a newly released book that delved into the former president’s fascination with international libations.

The book was the catalyst for the museum’s first-ever Evening of Traditional Beverages—an educational event that explores the history behind classic cocktails.

“It was a way for my predecessors to integrate a different interpretive element to Homewood,” says Catherine Rogers Arthur, director and curator of Homewood Museum since 1997. “Between the book and the exploration of the alcoholism of [museum founder] Charles Carroll Jr., who died at the age of 50, they began looking at the popularity of beverages consumed in early America and used that as a stepping off point to do some more modern things at the museum.”

In previous years, the event has taught attendees about everything from ales and ciders to bourbon and shrub cocktails. This time around, Homewood’s 20th annual celebration on Thursday, May 19 at 6 p.m. will focus on one of the oldest beverages around—tea.

“Tea obviously figures pretty prominently in American history, and similarly in Maryland history,” Arthur says. “Herbal teas show up in early 19th-century recipe books as a medicinal cure for the common cold, and we’ve found it mentioned in old newspapers where Baltimore merchants would advertise what they had imported.”

The museum has habitually partnered with the team from Woodberry Kitchen to host the reception, ever since Arthur met restaurateur Spike Gjerde five years ago at a class that he was teaching on the history of Baltimore’s food scene.

Woodberry’s beverage and bar manager Corey Polyoka has once again created a cocktail menu that reflects the evening’s theme, which will include a “welcome punch” fusing Madeira wine and Bohea black tea; a spicy and fruity concoction mixing dried peach tea, turmeric leaves, and Baltimore Whiskey Company’s Shot Tower Gin; and a riff on a mint julep with dried mint and lavender blended with recently released Sagamore Spirit Rye. Light bites—such as deviled eggs, crudité, and (naturally) tea sandwiches—catered by Woodberry Kitchen will also be featured.

“Corey is always running with a lot of wildly creative ideas, but he’s also so open to the historical element,” Arthur says. “Who would have thought that late 1700s newspapers could be the spark of a cocktail?”

In keeping with Woodberry’s sustainable mantra, Polyoka says that his recipes are not only inspired by the history of the drinks themselves, but also by the availability of locally sourced ingredients—such as mint from Moon Valley Farm in Cockeysville and the local spirits.

“It’s interesting to make the connection to what life and food were like back then,” he says. “Catherine always provides incredible research, pulling up articles and port records, and it’s a great spark for us to look within the food system to find regional ingredients that could be used in a traditional beverage.”

The museum, which was built in 1801 and boasts a collection of historic Baltimore arts and furniture, will be open for the public to tour before brief remarks by Arthur and Polyoka begin on the lawn at 6:15 p.m. Arthur says that she’s excited to see regulars who frequent the event each year, while also educating newcomers about Homewood’s mission.

“A huge part of its appeal is that it’s a quick study course,” she says. “People leave having had a good time, but also with tons of information to share so that they can be a cocktail party conversationalist.”

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