Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821) becomes the first person born in the United States canonized as a Roman Catholic saint in 1975. Seton is the founder of the nation’s first parochial school system, establishing a Catholic girls school in Emmitsburg along with a congregation of Sisters of Charity.
National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg
The first American college of dentistry is chartered in 1840 by the Maryland Assembly. Prior to its founding there is no successful effort to turn dentistry into a formal profession.
The first use of DNA links 27 Black workers buried in the local cemetery of the Catoctin Furnace (c1800) and reveals links to nearly 42,000 living relatives, and traces the enslaved back to their African origins.
Alex Haley publishes a popular book, Roots, in 1967 and, with a TV Miniseries, creates a new national interest in enslavement in America. He launches the book from the Annapolis wharf where his ancestor Kunta Kinte was brought in chains 200 years ago.
We acknowledge the enduring presence of many American Indian tribes who once lived in Maryland and who now, having lost their lands, live in a diaspora. Read more.
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