Baltimore secessionist rioters attack Massachusetts infantry passing through the city on the way to Washington in 1861, marking the first bloodshed of the Civil War.
Pratt Street Riots are first bloodshed of the Civil War Read More »
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, born in Baltimore, abolitionist, suffragist and writer, in 1859 publishes the first short story, then a novel by a Black woman.
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper publishes first short story by a black woman. Read More »
Gangs from the Know Nothing Party and Southern sympathizers riot in Baltimore during elections. In 1857 fighting kills 17 gang members and injures 67 in the most intense violence of the Know Nothing era. Riots in “Mobtown” make national headlines.
Baltimore earns the label of “Mobtown” Read More »
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 »
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 »
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 »
Thomas Smallwood coins the expression “underground railroad,” in a newspaper column in 1842. Born a slave in PG county he teams up with Charles Torrey (pictured), a white clergyman, to help over 400 slaves escape through DC.
“Underground railroad” term coined Read More »
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.
First American College of Dentistry chartered Read More »
Frederick Douglass, born in Talbot County, escapes enslavement by train in 1838. He becomes a powerful speaker for abolition and the most photographed American in the 19th Century.
Frederick Douglass escapes by train from Baltimore 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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