The Poole and Hunt Foundry and Machine Works, opened in 1854, makes construction in the US Capitol possible, specifically the dome and the House and Senate wings. Poole and Hunt becomes an industrial hub with 700 employees on the Jones Falls after the Civil War.
Poole and Hunt Foundry becomes an industrial hub Read More »
Quaker abolitionist Martha Ellicott Tyson knew Benjamin Banneker when she was a child. She publishes the biography in 1854.
Abolitionist Martha Ellicott Tyson publishes first biography of Benjamin Banneker Read More »
Josiah Henson, born in Port Tobacco, escapes slavery, leads a community and learns to read and write. He becomes the model for the title character in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a nationally popular anti-slavery story published in 1852.
“Uncle Tom” is based on a Marylander Read More »
Dairyman and abolitionist Jacob Fussell invents the ice cream industry in 1851 in Baltimore. Looking for ways to use the extra cream in his dairy business, he sells ice cream to Baltimore. Fussell’s original ice cream wagon is in the Baltimore Museum of Industry.
Ice Cream industry begins Read More »
Edward Gorsuch of Monkton, pursues 13 enslaved escapees in 1851 to Christiana, just over the Pennsylvania line. Although he has a warrant under the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act., the free Black community defends the escapees and Gorsuch is killed. It is the first test of federal legislation to retrieve escaped slaves.
Fugitive Slave Act is tested in Monkton Read More »
Governor Thomas Hicks, slave owner, Know Nothing and anti-secessionist, moves the Maryland Assembly in 1861 to Frederick and leads them to vote against secession. The vote ensures that the national capital is not surrounded by Confederate States.
Governor Thomas Holliday Hicks preserves Maryland from secession Read More »
In 1850 Baltimore, America’s third largest city, is a singular urban mix of immigrants, free and enslaved Blacks, white leadership and energetic industry. As a border state it is an example of the country’s divisions and challenges before the Civil War.
Baltimore City is unique in the U.S. at 1850 Read More »
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.
Edgar Allan Poe dies in Baltimore Read More »
Harriet Tubman escapes slavery with two brothers in 1849. Subsequently she leads 13 more escape missions, rescuing 70 individuals and she participates in Civil War military engagements in South Carolina.
Harriet Tubman, A Moses to her People Read More »
Henry Highland Garnet, Black Maryland abolitionist who opposes the tactics of Frederick Douglass, delivers a fiery abolitionist speech, “A Call to Rebellion”, to the National Convention of Colored Citizens in 1843.
Henry Highland Garnet, leading Maryland abolitionist, opposes non-violence Read More »
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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