MDCH Coordinator's Blog

Over 35 items have been added to The Civil War in Your Attic collection in recent weeks. Many of the items are related to Pennock Huey, who served in the Pennsylvania Cavalry and spent time as a prisoner of war in South Carolina. Other items were scanned at the event held in Carroll County, including items related to the commutation of military service received by Elijah Leppo of Finksburg. The next scanning event will be held this Saturday, March 10 at Towson University.

The Fishing Club Oral History Collection from the Captain Avery Museum was recently published on MDCH. The 17 interviews included in the collection were the result of a 2007 federal and state funded grant project. The goal of the project was to further explore and capture the interim history of the Captain Avery Museum property, which is located in Shady Side, a watermen's community on Maryland's West River. The property was purchased by the Shady Side Rural Heritage Society in 1989 from the Fishing Club, a group of Jewish Washingtonians who had owned it as a weekend get away since 1924.

I doubt few of us will receive a holiday card as exceedingly earnest and imbued with humble sentiment as the one written by an eight year old H.L. Mencken in 1888 to his parents. "With a grateful heart," Mencken penned in meticulous cursive, "I write you this little letter to show my gratitude for your great kindness to me during the past year. I am now old enough to understand how very good you are to me. I am still young and unable to repay you for your loving care, but will try to by hard study and obedience to show you how dearly I love you. If I have done anything wrong or displeased you otherwise, I ask your f[ore]giveness. I will try in the future to please you. I pray to God that he may spare you many more years, and give you health and happiness. Your devoted child. Harry L. Mencken." You can view the original card in our H.L. Mencken digital collection. Happy New Year!

The bicentennial of the War of 1812, a conflict sometimes referred to as the "Second American Revolution," has generated renewed interest in this period in our nation's history. Fortunately for us, one of the best resources for historical materials and artifacts relating to the war, the Maryland Historical Society, is right down the street from us here in Baltimore. Through a partnership with MdHS, we have just published a digital collection of War of 1812 manuscripts, paintings, prints, weapons, military accessories, and more. Many thanks to MdHS staff for collaborating with us on this project, particularly Jenny Ferretti, MdHS' Curator of Photographs and Digitization Coordinator.

The Carroll County History Project is an ongoing effort to preserve the history of Carroll County, Maryland by collecting videotaped memories of residents. The project was recently awarded the 2011 Maryland Preservation Award for Educational Excellence by the Maryland Historic Trust. Through the cooperation and efforts of the Carroll County Public Library and the Community Media Center, over 50 of the project's oral histories are now available in a new MDCH digital collection.

A digital collection of items scanned as part of The Civil War in Your Attic project is now available on MDCH. The items include letters, photographs, commissary notes, military appointments, and other documents dating from the period. Many more items scanned at the Enoch Pratt Free Library and other participating institutions will be added to the online collection in the coming months.

Carl Spoerer's Sons Company has been added to MDCH's digital collections. It includes photographs, mechanical drawings, and documents related to the history of one Maryland's earliest makers of automobiles. The collection shows the company's transition from a blacksmith and carriage shop to motor vehicle manufacturer.