The Enoch Pratt Free Library, is the oldest U.S. free circulating library. It opens in Baltimore as a “library for all, rich and poor, without distinction of race or color.”
The library inspires Andrew Carnegie to create the nationwide Carnegie Library system. Carla Hayden, a recent Pratt Library Director, is now the Librarian of Congress.
Currently the Enoch Pratt Library has 22 branches in Baltimore City and an annual budget of $43 million.
Washington College is first chartered private college in the new US. Washington lends his name and serves on its board.
“Jew Bill” legislation is passed by the Maryland Assembly in 1826, giving Jewish men all the rights of citizenship equal to Christians. Thomas Kennedy of Hagerstown is the tireless sponsor.
Poet Edgar Allan Poe dies mysteriously in Baltimore in 1849. He is found on an election day, presumably drunk, taken to a hospital where he dies three days later. His monument and tomb are in downtown Baltimore.
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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