The Maryland Center for History and Culture (MCHC), formerly the Maryland Historical Society (MdHS), founded on March 1, 1844, is the oldest cultural institution in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. The organization "collects, preserves, and interprets objects and materials reflecting Maryland's diverse heritage". The MCHC has a museum, library, holds educational programs, and publishes scholarly works on Maryland.

History

The MCHC has been located at the Enoch Pratt House in the Mount Vernon neighborhood of

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

, since 1919. Built in 1847, the Enoch Pratt House was presented to MdHS in 1916 by Ms. Mary Washington Keyser as a tribute to her husband, H. Irvine Keyser, who was a member of MdHS from 1835 until his death in 1916.

Enoch Pratt Enoch Pratt (September 10, 1808 – September 17, 1896) was an American businessman in Baltimore, Maryland. Pratt was also a committed active Unitarian, and a philanthropist. He is best known for his donations to establish the Enoch Pratt Free ...

(1806–1896) was a well-known philanthropist who created the

Enoch Pratt Free Library The Enoch Pratt Free Library is the free public library system of Baltimore, Maryland. Its Central Library is located on 400 Cathedral Street (southbound) and occupies the northeastern three quarters of a city block bounded by West Franklin S ...

and gave substantial contributions to the First Unitarian Church, the

Maryland Science Center The Maryland Science Center (MSC), located in Baltimore's Inner Harbor, opened to the public in 1976. It includes three levels of exhibits, a planetarium, and an observatory. It was one of the original structures that drove the revitalization o ...

, and the

Maryland School for the Deaf The Maryland School for the Deaf (MSD) offers public education at no cost to deaf and hard-of-hearing Maryland residents between the ages of zero and 21. It has two campuses located in Frederick and Columbia, Maryland. History Prior to the op ...

. The organization changed its name from "Maryland Historical Society" to "Maryland Center for History and Culture" in September 2020 shortly after celebrating its 175th anniversary.

The MCHC Today

Journal

Since 1906, the MCHC has published ''Maryland Historical Magazine'', a peer-reviewed quarterly journal boasting one of the largest readerships among state historical organization journals. The organization also publishes books on Maryland history that are distributed through a partnership with the

Johns Hopkins University Press Johns Hopkins University Press (also referred to as JHU Press or JHUP) is the publishing division of Johns Hopkins University. It was founded in 1878 and is the oldest continuously running university press in the United States. The press publi ...

, including ''Crime and Punishment in Early Maryland'' written by former MdHS librarian Raphael Semmes (1890–1952). The MCHC has over 100 titles in the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

Exhibitions

Notables on exhibit at the MCHC are the original manuscript of "

The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written by American lawyer Francis Scott Key on September 14, 1814, after he witnessed the bombardment of Fort ...

" and the letters and journals of

Benjamin Banneker Benjamin Banneker (November 9, 1731October 19, 1806) was an American Natural history, naturalist, mathematician, astronomer and almanac author. A Land tenure, landowner, he also worked as a surveying, surveyor and farmer. Born in Baltimore Co ...

. The MCHC showcases include 231 weapons, 866 pieces of jewelry, 2,200 Native American prehistoric archaeological objects, 15,000 musical scores as well as a remarkable collection of 18th- and 19th-century paintings and silver, maritime artifacts, Maryland painted and inlaid furniture, quilts, costumes, ceramics, dolls and toys. Exhibits include Maryland's history, Maryland in art and furniture in Maryland life.

Library

The H. Furlong Baldwin Library’s collections are both diverse and substantive. The library enables researchers, teachers, and students to see for themselves the records of the past, and to study and learn from its many treasures. The library’s collections include 60,000 books, 800,000 photographs, 5 million manuscripts, 6,500 prints and broadsides, 1 million pieces of printed ephemera, extensive genealogy indexes, and more, reflecting the history of Maryland and its people. These collections are accessible to visitors on-line and at the MCHC campus in Baltimore. In 1968 the library acquired 80 photographs by Bert Sadler, noted for his work in capturing everyday American life. On July 9, 2011, Barry Landau and Jason Savedoff were arrested and later indicted for the theft of 60 society documents.

Preserve the Baltimore Uprising

The MCHC is a community partner of Preserve the Baltimore Uprising, a digital archive devoted to preserving and making accessible media created and captured by people and organizations involved in or witness to the protests following Freddie Gray's death in 2015. The 2016–2017 MdHS exhibit ''What & Why: Collecting at the Maryland Historical Society'' included items from the Preserve the Baltimore Uprising collections in a video installation.

Notes

External links

* *
Maryland Historical Markers photographs
at the

University of Maryland Libraries The University of Maryland Libraries is the largest university library system in the Washington D.C.–Baltimore area. The system includes eight libraries: six are located on the University of Maryland, College Park, College Park campus, while ...

{{authority control Historical societies in Maryland Museums in Baltimore Art museums and galleries in Maryland History museums in Maryland 1844 establishments in Maryland State historical societies of the United States Mount Vernon, Baltimore