First bookmobile is in Washington County
Progressive leadership at the Washington County Free Library sends out the first bookmobile in 1905 to great acclaim.
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American Innovation
U.S. Naval Academy is founded
A catastrophic naval voyage with the son of the Secretary of War aboard results in a grisly outcome and the creation of the Naval Academy in 1845. Note bodies hanging from yardarm.
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First use of genetic genealogy at Catoctin Furnace
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.
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Carla Hayden becomes the Librarian of Congress
Carla Hayden heads the country’s oldest federal institution, The Library of Congress, in 2019. She is the first professional librarian, first woman and first African American in the post. Previously she directed the Enoch Pratt in Baltimore for 13 years.
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Unknown Black mental patients buried at Crownsville Hospital are honored
Janice Hayes-Williams honors the memory of the anonymous African American mental patients buried at the Crownsville Hospital for the Negro Insane, founded in 1911.
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American Visionary Art Musuem
The American Visionary Art Museum opens its doors in 1995. It is unique, the first of its kind, bringing work from untrained artists to the public in a new an engaging way.
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Entrepreneur Reginald F. Lewis creates foundation
Baltimore native Reginald Lewis, first African American to build a $1 billion corporation, creates a foundation in 1987. In 2002 it provides major support in creating the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African American History and Culture.
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Sophie Kerr Literary Prize created
Popular early 20th century author Sophie Kerr creates the largest U.S. literary prize for an undergraduate at Washington College in 1965.
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Thurgood Marshall wins Brown vs. Board of Education case in 1954
Thurgood Marshall, Maryland’s most famous lawyer, wins Brown vs. Board of Education case, desegregating public schools. Appointed by President Lyndon Johnson as the first African American to the Supreme Court in 1976, Marshall serves 24 years.
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City of Columbia
“Columbia, Maryland, is the best place to raise a family in the country.” Jim Rouse creates a carefully planned city for “joyous living” in 1967.
